“I have decided, in consultation with management, to suspend the house session for three weeks,” house president Alban Bagbin said on Tuesday.
17 members of parliament and 151 officials and support workers have been infected with the virus. Parliament will adjourn from Wednesday to March 2 while the premises are disinfected and sanitized.
“During this period, honorable members must comply with the strict protocols and regulations of Covid-19,” Bagbin said. He asked members and staff to get tested for the virus in two weeks.
Under the previous Covid-19 restrictions announced on February 5, only a third of members could sit in the chamber at once. Parliament held the test of its members earlier this month, but some members rejected it, Bagbin said during a Feb. 3 session.
The West African nation has reported more than 73,000 cases of Covid-19 and 482 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
Akufo-Addo announced new restrictions on January 31 that included a ban on funerals, weddings, concerts, theatrical performances and parties.
“Actually, comrades from Ghana, we have a lot of work to do to deal with the disease,” he said in a speech. “Given that recent studies show that the UK and other new variants are passed on to the population, we should understand that our current situation could be very serious if no efforts are made, both by the government and by your citizens, to help contain the virus. ”
Ghana aims to vaccinate its entire population, initially targeting 20 million people, with the first vaccine available in March.