The Ghanaian authorities have said that travellers arriving through the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) Accra, will pay US$150 for COVID-19 test as part of measures to control the spread of the Coronavirus in the country.
The Managing Director of the Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL), Mr. Yaw Kwakwa, told a news conference on Monday in Accra ahead of the reopening of the airport for international flights on Tuesday that it was mandatory to test all passengers arriving in Ghana with effect from Tuesday, September 1.
He disclosed that the testing was part of directives outlined by the Ministry of Aviation and Health to prevent the importation of the disease into the country and that the accuracy of the testing was around 99 to 100 percent.
“It takes a maximum of 30 minutes for a particular passenger to go through the entire process and get his or her results. This system is so convenient that passengers will practically go through our terminal building with only a fraction of time added to what they used to do before,” Mr. Kwakwa said.
Meanwhile, the Director of the Ghana Health Service, Dr. Patrick Kumah-Aboagye, has announced that children under the age of five, aircrew and passengers on transit will not be tested for Covid-19 at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA).
“There are exemptions with the mandatory test….Children under five will not be tested because the risk is low, aircrew and transit passengers who do not require to enter the country will not be subjected to the mandatory test at the airport,” he said.
Local media reports said that Dr. Kumah-Aboagye told journalists at a press briefing in Accra on Monday ahead of the resumption of air travel in Ghana.
President Akufo-Addo had on Sunday said the country’s air borders would be opened on Tuesday, September 1, 2020 and that every passenger, who arrives in Ghana must possess proof of a negative Covid-19 PCR test.
GIK/APA