Mr Samuel Ayeh-Paye, Member of Parliament for Ayensuano, has advised against the panic movement to the rural areas by some residents in communities affected by the ‘stay at home’ lockdown to contain the COVID-19.
“Let’s all obey the President, and stay in our present communities. It’s in our own interest to obey the President and co-operate with the Government of Ghana in finding a solution to, and dealing with this global pandemic,” Mr Ayeh-Paye said in Accra.
The MP made the call when the Ghana News Agency (GNA) sought to know what he had done to help his constituents in the wake of the COVID-19 scare.
Mr Ayeh-Paye said apart from education campaigns, he had distributed Veronica Buckets, boxes of liquid soap, and a number of hand sanitizers and tissue paper to Amanase, Teacher Mante, Achiansa, Anum Apapam, Dorkrokyewa and Ayekukuoso markets.
Some of the items also went to the 27 Community-Based Health Planning and Services (CHIPS) compounds and health centres in the Constituency.
As the number of people contracting the disease soars, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on Friday, March 27, in a national televised address, announced a two-week partial lockdown of some communities in Accra, Tema, Kasoa and Kumasi effective 0100 hours Monday, March 30, 2020.
These areas had been identified by the Ghana Health Service as the ‘hotspots’ of the infections.
The decision, the President said, was to help curb the spread of COVID-19, which had led to five deaths and infected some 152 people.
Mr Ayeh-Paye told the GNA that he had received reports of some of his constituents staying in Accra and other affected communities returning hurriedly to the Constituency, which is largely rural in the Eastern Region.
He said instead of moving into rural areas, the people should rather adhere to the recommended sanitary regimes and health protocols like washing hands with soap under running water, observing social distancing, sanitizing hands with alcohol-based sanitizers, avoiding handshakes, picking the nose, touching the mouth, ears and eyes, and covering the nose and mouth when coughing and sneezing.
The MP, who is also the Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Road and Transport, cautioned that provisions under the Imposition of Restrictions Act, 2020 (Act 1012), might be invoked to prosecute people moving to the rural areas under these trying times.
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