ADVERTISEMENT

Speaker of Parliament threatens to publish names of COVID positive MPs

Speaker of Ghana's Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has warned lawmakers who have tested positive for Coronavirus to self-isolate and stay away from the chamber of the House.

Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin

According to the Speaker, if MPs fail to heed to his call, he will be forced to publish names of parliamentarians who have tested positive for COVID-19.

His First Deputy, Joe Osei-Owusu, conveyed the warning on Wednesday, February 3, 2020 in the chamber.

Mr Speaker wishes me to draw the attention of the members of the house that some MPs who have, in fact, tested positive, to the COVID, are still coming to the chamber”, he said, adding: “Mr Speaker wishes me to inform that if those members do not withdraw and isolate, he’ll be forced to publish their names of members who have tested positive in order to warn the rest of us”.

The Bekwai MP then said: “Please, let’s take this protocol seriously and let all members who have been informed of their test results that they have tested positive withdraw from the precincts of Parliament, not just the chamber; stay home and self-isolate, go through the protocols and recover before they return to the house”.

ADVERTISEMENT

According to him, about 50 MPs have still not availed themselves of the test despite Parliament having made preparations for that.

He urged all MPs who have not taken the test to do so.

Ghana is currently experiencing a second wave of the pandemic.

Eight more people succumbed recently, bringing the death toll to 424 from 416.

At a press briefing organised by Information Minister-designate Kojo Oppong Nkrumah in Accra on Tuesday, February 2, 2021, the Director-General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, said as of January 30, 2021, 67,782 cases had been detected through 783,432 tests representing 24,917 tests per million with a cumulative positivity rate of 8.7 per cent.

ADVERTISEMENT

He said 61,843 cases (91.2%) have recovered and been discharged with 424 deaths representing a fatality rate of 0.63%.

Currently, there are 5,515 active cases with the majority of them being in Greater Accra (56.7%), Ashanti (16.0) and Western (6.1%) regions.

Dr Kuma-Aboagye said although 243 districts in the 16 regions of Ghana have recorded cases, ten regions did not register an increase.

Averagely, he noted, 700 cases are being reported daily with the Greater Accra Region still being the epicentre.

Cases in the Greater Accra Region are mainly located in the Accra Metropolitan area and its adjoining districts.

ADVERTISEMENT

There is also an increasing number of workplace outbreaks.

JOIN OUR PULSE COMMUNITY!

Unblock notifications in browser settings.
ADVERTISEMENT

Eyewitness? Submit your stories now via social or:

Email: eyewitness@pulse.com.gh

ADVERTISEMENT