The Speaker of Parliament, Prof. Aaron Mike Oquaye on Tuesday, May 19, 2020, ordered the immediate mass testing of Members of Parliament (MPs) and the parliamentary staff for COVID-19.
The directive formed part of measures instituted by the Parliamentary Service Board to prevent an outbreak of the pandemic in the House.
As a result of that directive, the samples of some 690 persons in Parliament were taken last week.
The Director of Medical Services in Parliament, Dr. Prince Pambo in a Citi News interview said the results of the tests will not be made public.
He said the results will instead be made known individually to the persons tested without the involvement of Parliament.
“The exercise was meant not only for Members of Parliament but the staff of Parliament as well and other support staff who have a duty in the parliamentary precinct and the results will be made known to them individually,” he said.
The safety of Ghana’s parliamentarians amidst the COVID-19 outbreak has become a topical issue with more people making proposals to ensure that the House can hold proceedings without the risk of infection.
Ghana’s case count
As of Monday, May 25, 2020, Ghana had recorded 6,808 cases of the novel outbreak with 2,070 recoveries and 32 deaths.
The Greater Accra Region is still leading the chart with 4,836 cases, followed by the Ashanti and Central Regions with 1,062 and 306 cases respectively.
