Ghana’s parliament will suspend sittings for three weeks due to increasing coronavirus cases among lawmakers and staff, Speaker Alban Bagbin Said.

The number of MPs who have contracted the virus has risen to 17 while that of staff has gone up to 151.

Speaker Bagbin said sittings would resume on 2 March.

But he said parliament’s appointments committee would from 10 February continue with the scheduled vetting of cabinet nominees of President Nana Akufo-Addo, who won re-election in December.

Lawmakers and staff are to resubmit themselves to testing two weeks from Wednesday, public broadcaster Ghana Broadcasting Corporation reports.

A surge in coronavirus cases had last week forced parliament to limit its sittings to Tuesdays and Thursdays, with entry only permitted to MPs and staff needed for the business of those days.

Ghana has so far confirmed over 73,000 cases and 482 deaths since it reported its first case in March last year.