Ghana is set to reopen its main airport to international flight passengers starting Sept. 1 after ensuring measures to help curb the spread of the coronavirus, reported Reuters.
During a broadcast on Sunday, Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo said any passenger arriving in the country will have to present a negative Covid-19 result, taken no more than 72 hours before departure from the country of origin.
He added that passengers will again be tested upon arrival at the airport, with results to be provided within 30 minutes. International travel by land and sea are still prohibited, he said.
President Akufo-Addo said Ghana, which has recorded 44,398 cases of the virus, has only 1,159 active cases. Around 276 people have died of the virus so far.
The officials at Ghana’s major international travel hub, Kotoka International Airport, have announced that all new international arrivals will be required to take a PCR test. The test could be administered at any of the over 70 sampling collection booths set-up at the upper level of the Arrival Hall, with the results being ready within 15 minutes.
A state-of-the-art laboratory is being set-up at the upper level of the Arrival Hall to process the samples. The laboratory will transmit the results electronically to the port health stations in the main arrival hall before a passenger gets there. The passengers will have to bear the cost of the PCR test estimated to be between GH¢200-400.
As far as schools and colleges are concerned, the Ghana government has announced that pre-school and primary school pupils will stay home until January. Some secondary school classes will be allowed to resume from Oct. 5, joining university students who resumed in-person classes on Aug. 24.
In related news, last week, the Nigerian government postponed the resumption of international flights for another week. The flights had been set to resume Saturday.
