The Environmental Health Officers Association (EHOAN) has said that the use of banks’ Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) was a source of community transmission of coronavirus in Nigeria.
Taiwo Awonuga, EHOA’s Lagos chapter President, raised the alarm in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Friday.
Awonuga urged the Presidential Task Force (PTF) to immediately compel banks to open up more cash dispensing outlets to forestall the spread of the virus.
Awonuga lamented that social distancing was being ignored at several ATMs points across the country.
He appealed to financial institutions to ensure their customers obey all safety guidelines.
The health officers advised banks to streamline their services in accordance with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control’s (NCDC) recommendations.
“The rat-race going on in many ATMs outlets is not good for the fight against communal transmission of the pandemic. People line up in the sun amidst sweat and droppings from their bodies.
“It calls for a change in attitude from banks and customers too, if we must halt community spread of the coronavirus, especially in the suburb where ATMs are few but attract crowds.
“The confusion at ATM points are a common sight in the country because people need money to cater for daily needs. In that zeal to get cash, they lose their guard and get infected by vectors around them,’’ he said.
AFRICA TODAY NEWS, NEW YORK