Ghana’s Minority in Parliament has asked the Akufo-Addo government to lock down three other regions that have recorded cases of COVID-19 following the two-week lockdown imposed on Greater Accra, Greater Kumasi, Kasoa and Tema last week by President Nana Akufo-Addo.

Currently, five people have died out of the 204 confirmed cases in Ghana.

The cases are spread across the Greater Accra, Ashanti, Northern, Upper West, and Eastern Regions.

According to the Minority’s Health Committee, Eastern, Northern and Upper West Regions must also be locked down.

The Ranking Member on the Health Committee, Mr Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, told journalists on Friday: “In the essence of a lockdown, you lockdown; you restrict movement because once the movement is not restricted, the spread moves faster. So, in order to contain them, I think that restriction of movement of persons in these five regions will not be bad”.

“But, if you restrict the movement in these regions and you sit idle, only restricting the movements alone will not stop the spread. You must have steps in place to fight them while you contain them. If you embark on lockdown and don’t do anything after the lockdown people will still be carrying the virus,” the opposition lawmaker said.

The Minority also urged the government to address the concerns of doctors and health workers at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital regarding PPE supply so as to avert a strike.

“We will never back medical doctors or health professionals to embark on a strike at this crucial moment. We are all at risk, so, we can only appeal to them to be at work. But you see, they must be alive and they must survive before they can protect us. So, while we are appealing to them to be at work, the government must also expedite action on what they need. It looks like they have done well with the talking but at this time, it’s action we need and not talking, so, they must walk the talk.”