Parliament has asked legislators and staff of the Parliamentary Service, who have tested positive for Covid-19 to stay away from Parliament House or risk having their identities unveiled.
Some affected Covid-19 MPs have been sighted in Parliament contrary to the protocols that allow infected persons to self isolate.
Speaker of Parliament, Prof. Aaron Michael Oquaye said “if a person wants to endanger his or her life, he or she has no right as a human right issue to extend to another person.”
Reacting to defiant attitude by some Members of Parliament (MPs) and staff of Parliamentary Service as well as journalists on directive to submit themselves to compulsory testing on Covid-19, Prof. Oquaye emphatically stated that the Marshal Office had been directed to deal with any recalcitrant
The Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu had told the House the National Covid-19 Case Management Team was getting frustrated in reaching persons who tested positive to go into self-isolation after their status was communicated to them.
Speaker Oquaye said: “I have a duty to confess that it is a directive that every person who operates from here (Parliament) as an MP, an official or as an invitee such as media personnel must heed our directive to do a test.”
“We are arranging for another time for the relevant personnel to come to your door steps. After that those who don’t want to test don’t want to enter our premises.
“And that is also a directive. If a person wants to endanger his or her life, he has no right as a human right issue to extend to another person and that it very clear,” he stressed.
On his part, the Majority Leader appealed to his colleagues, staff of Parliament and media personnel who had been contacted “behind the curtain to stay away because you are imperiling the lives of others.”
According to him, one MP, who had been spoken to by the Covid-19 medical team was seen in close contact and in conversation with some other MPs.
He appealed to the affected MPs to stay away from Parliament or “otherwise the medical team may be forced to unveil the identity of those persons and it is not good.”
“They do not intend to do that but those persons know themselves and they should comply,” he warmed and added, “unfortunately, some people have elected, after contact was made with them, to ignore the appeal from the team and they visit parliament and they endanger the lives of all of us.”
“The issue is, Mr Speaker, if you have submitted yourself and tested negative as some of us have, it does not mean I am out of the woods. If anybody infected comes close to me, chances are that I may contract the disease and it goes for everybody,” he indicated.
By Ernest Kofi Adu, Parliament House