Member of Parliament (MP) for Juaboso Constituency, and Ranking Member on Parliament’s Health Committee, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh has called for the creation of more laboratories and isolation centres in each region across the country.

According to the lawmaker, this will ensure rapid response to suspected cases of COVID-19 amidst the current outbreak.

He says it is unimpressive that the country has maintained only two laboratories for case testing given the fast-spreading nature of the virus. In an interview with Citi News, Mr Akandoh urged the government to immediately upgrade some facilities across the country to properly handle the situation.

“At this point in time, the government must involve the private health service providers and also if Ghana has at least 16 isolation centres in the country, one in every region, that’s not beyond Ghana.

They will quickly tell you Ridge hospital, Korle-Bu and a few others in Accra. We need at least one in every region. I am also not impressed with the number of labs we have in the country pre-testing the cases.

We have one in Kumasi and one in Noguchi Memorial Institute, I am not impressed. I am also reliably informed that the little effort we put into Navrongo, Tamale hospital or the

Korle-Bu hospital will be able to have a laboratory that can test these cases. We don’t need to transfer cases all the way to Kumasi or Accra for testing,” he said.

Mr. Akandoh also argued that the State must absorb the full cost of testing of a suspected case to its treatment to encourage more voluntary testing.

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“The cost could be a barrier for anybody to go to the hospital to test so if the government has devoted US$100 million, it must be announced that anyone who shows that symptoms must go the hospital free of charge.

"That should have been the first announcement to serve as encouragement for people to go and test so please Mr President, this particular one is important so let the state bear the cost,“ he said.

Currently, the total tally of confirmed coronavirus cases (Covid-19) in Ghana is six. The Ghana Health Service (GHS) confirmed four new cases of Coronavirus (Covid-19) in the country on Sunday, March 15, 2020. 

In response to the recent developments, the Government of Ghana has issued a travel advisory discouraging all travels to the country

According to the Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, all persons except Ghanaians, who have within the last 14 days, visited countries with at least 200 cases of Covid-19 will not be permitted into the country.

He added that, those allowed to enter the country will be required to mandatorily self-quarantine for 14 days. Persons who are unable to satisfactorily do so, will be quarantined by the state.

The President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has already issued a directive to temporarily suspend all foreign travels for all public officials.

The President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has also set aside $100 million to support Ghana’s preparedness plan towards coronavirus.

According to President Akufo-Addo, the amount “is to fund expansion of infrastructure, purchase of materials and equipment, and public education.”