Abidjan, 18 April, 2020 / 2:26 am (ACI Africa).
The Catholic Church in the West African nation of Ivory Coast has started the distribution of face masks to members of society considered “less privileged and vulnerable” in an exercise meant to complement daily prayers, the Secretary General of the Bishops’ conference has said.
“In this multifaceted struggle, everyone brings something to the table. And the minimum we can bring is first of all the prayer we say every day for the whole of humanity that is suffering; but in addition to prayer we have decided to give free masks to people who are less privileged and vulnerable,” the Secretary General of CECCI, Fr. Emmanuel Wohi Nin said during the launch of the distribution exercise Thursday, April 16.
According to Fr. Wohi, the distribution exercise will see the team involved going to dwellings of the beneficiaries.
“We are going to move from door to door to distribute these 500 masks in order to keep these people safe from this COVID-19 pandemic,” the Ivorian Cleric said.
With at least 688 cases of COVID-19 confirmed in the country, Ivory Coast is the country with the highest number of cases in West Africa; 193 patients have recovered and six have died.