The Speaker of Parliament, Prof Aaron Mike Oquaye has advised Members of Parliament (MPs) to avoid greeting by handshaking and other forms physical contact in wake of the spread of coronavirus.

This forms part of precautionary measures being undertaken by Parliament to protect its members from the disease and prevent its spread within the House.

Prof. Oquaye also disclosed that, the House has placed hand sanitizers at vantage points in its bid to strengthen measures against the pandemic.

“Transmission has been identified particularly through handshaking and using the hands on the face. Sanitizers have been put at vantage points. We [MPs] need to keep sanitizing our hands,” the Speaker said.

The Speaker appealed to the MPs to adhere to the precautionary measures spelt out, to avoid contracting the disease.

As of Wednesday, March 11, 2020, official figures from health authorities indicated that 57 suspected cases of the disease had all tested negative.

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The President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in delivering an address to the nation on Wednesday, 11th March, 2020 disclosed that a $100 million will be set aside to support the country’s preparedness plan towards coronavirus.

As part precautionary measures, the president said “I have, as at yesterday, ordered a suspension of all international travels by public officials. Except for critical assignments, which will have to be authorised by the Chief of Staff at the Office of the President, all public officials are to remain within the jurisdiction, until further notice. Video conferencing facilities and other technological tools are to be utilised, whenever possible, for international engagements” he added.

Additionally, he revealed that he has instructed further enhancements of the protocols for in-bound traffic from already affected countries, and urged Ghanaians “as much as possible, desist from all foreign travels, except the most critical ones, until there is a grip on the virus.”

This follows an earlier directive from the President temporarily suspending foreign travels for all government officials as part of the government’s measures to prevent an outbreak of the novel coronavirus in Ghana.