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Ghana’s International Airport has officially resumed its operation today. This is in relation to the president 16th update on Sunday 30th August, 2020 when he announced that the Kotoka International airport will reopen from Tuesday, 1st September 2020.
Prior to the announcement, the president together with some other officials visited the Kotoka International Airport on Sunday to validated all preparations and procedures ongoing towards the reopening.
In his speech he stated that, despite the fact that the first cases of COVID-19 in Ghana were imported, measures have been put in place to ensure that it does not recur. The following measures have been taken and duly communicated to airlines that wish to resume flights to Ghana.
a) Any passenger arriving in Ghana must be in possession of a negative COVID-19 PCR test result from an accredited laboratory in the country of origin. The test should have been done not more than seventy-two (72) hours before the scheduled departure from the country of origin. All airlines have been instructed to ensure compliance with this directive for all passengers wishing to travel to Ghana, and all those airlines who fail in this regard will be duly sanctioned.
b) Disembarking passengers must do so wearing face masks.
c) Upon disembarking from the aeroplane, each passenger will undergo a mandatory COVID-19 test at the airport terminal, at a fee to be borne by the passenger. the test result will be available within thirty (30) minutes.
d) Children under the age of five (5) will not be required to undergo testing at the airport.
e) Passengers who tested positive for COVID-19, will be handled by the health authorities for further clinical assessment and management.
f) Passenger who test negative can thereon, enter Ghana to go about their lawful activities, and will be advised to continue to observe the COVID-19 safety precautions during their stay in Ghana.
The deputy health minister Dr. Okoe Boye also said at a press conference yesterday that Ghana intends to stick to its initial five broad approach to stop the spread of the virus which includes the stopping or limiting the entry of virus into Ghana, containing or restricting community spread, providing adequate care for the sick, limiting the adverse social and economic impact and increasing the country’s independence.
He added that “ we want to ensure we don’t go back to high numbers in terms of cases, so as a ministry we were very concern and insisted on having a safe reopening of our international airport and I am happy to say that so far the measures that have been put in place do guarantee a very safe airport”.
