All Members of Parliament and staff of the Parliamentary Service will undergo compulsory testing for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) today.
The Speaker of Parliament, Professor Aaron Mike Oquaye, who gave the directive explained that doing this would ensure that no Member of Parliament or staff of the Parliamentary Service harboured the virus and infected others in the House with it.
“I have directed, on the authority of the Parliamentary Service Board, the clerk and Parliament’s medical officer to liaise with the appropriate institution to immediately conduct testing for all honourable members and staff of the Parliamentary Service for COVID-19,” Professor Oquaye stated.
Welcoming members back from recess at the first sitting of the Fourth Session of the Seventh Parliament of the Fourth Republic in Accra yesterday, Prof. Oquaye requested the cooperation of the lawmakers and staff of Parliament for a successful testing exercise.
Ghana’s case count at the time of filing this report stood at 5,918 with 31 deaths and 1,754 recoveries.
To ensure that the House was free of the respiratory disease, Prof. Oquaye tasked leaders to ensure that there was proper physical distancing even in the chamber of the House.
“The COVID-19 pandemic is still with us as the rate of infection is steadily rising. While there is no scientifically approved cure or vaccine, we should adhere to all laid down hygiene protocols to abate the spread.
“Leaders should ensure that there is one space chair apart in our sitting (arrangement). When there is an overflow, the whips would decide what to do,” the Speaker said.
The Health Minister, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, meanwhile said Ghana’s mortality rate of the disease stands at 0.5 per cent compared to 5.9 per cent in the USA, 14.2 in the UK, 3.8 in Israel, 3.9 in Japan, 6.3 in Sierra Leone and 3.0 in Mauritius.
“Mr Speaker, we are working hard to save every life and avoid even a single death.
“However, disease burdens and fatality rate comparison help us appreciate the yield from our efforts, so as to bring out the best in us and not in a way to portray that fewer deaths aren’t a big deal,” he said.
Mr Agyeman-Manu, MP, Dormaa Central, was briefing his colleagues on Ghana’s current situation on the coronavirus pandemic and the outbreak of cerebrospinal meningitis in the Upper West Region.
According to the Health Minister, with quantum jump in recoveries, Ghana’s active case count has seen two successive declines; from 4,832 to 4,150 and further down to 3,952.
“This refreshing observation of two successive declines in active is of significant importance. The further we go down on this path of decline, the quicker our steps out of the COVID-19 valley onto higher ground,” he said.
The House would be expected to be in session for 12 weeks.
BY JULIUS YAO PETETSI
The post MPs, Parliamentary Service staff to undergo compulsory testing for coronavirus today appeared first on Ghanaian Times.
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