President Akufo-Addo says the government will bear the cost of treatment of passengers arriving at Kotoka International Airport (KIA) who test positive for COVID-19.
In his 21st televised address on Sunday night (3 January 2021), on enhanced measures against the spread of COVID-19, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo announced new guidelines to be implemented at KIA in addition to the existing measures, to limit the importation of new variants of the coronavirus.
President Akufo-Addo said the emergence of new coronavirus variants calls for strengthening of the existing protocols to prevent the spread of the disease in Ghana.
He announced that all arriving passengers who test positive for COVID-19, whether asymptomatic or not, will undergo mandatory isolation and treatment at a designated health facility or isolation centre.
Designated centres
President Akufo-Addo said: “All arriving passengers who test positive for COVID-19, asymptomatic or not, will undergo mandatory isolation and treatment at a designated health facility or isolation centre.
“The isolation will be for a period of seven days at the cost of government. However, the final discharge of cases will be based on existing case management guidelines and protocols.
“All passengers who are in isolation will undergo a repeat COVID-19 test within 24 hours of arrival, with the cost also borne by the government. This test will also include genomic sequencing for COVID-19,” the president announced.
“All passengers who test negative for COVID-19 will be required to adhere continuously to COVID-19 safety protocols, and will receive regular information on COVID-19 within five days of arrival in Ghana.”
Strict adherence
President Akufo-Addo gave his assurance that the COVID-19 testing regime at Ghana’s main international airport is among the strictest in the world, as certified by the national Food and Drugs Authority.
It is also capable of detecting the new variant of COVID-19 which is plaguing other nations around the world.
President Akufo-Addo said that with Ghana poised to procure her first consignment of COVID-19 vaccines in the first half of this year, there is light at the end of the tunnel.
“… but, we are not yet out of the woods. So, let us all continue down the path of strict adherence to the protocols.
“There is nothing beyond us: the Ghanaian people were the first in sub-Saharan Africa to gain our freedom from colonial rule. We can do it,” he assured.
Compliance
He appealed to all Ghanaians to ensure compliance with the COVID-19 protocols.
As of 1 January 2021, 712 positive cases of COVID-19 have been recorded at the KIA, out of 118,278 tests conducted.
The positivity rate among international arrivals in Ghana rose from 0.26% in September 2020 to 0.93% in December, with 387 cases recorded in that month alone.
On reopening the main airport in September last year, the government said that all passengers arriving in Ghana must possess a negative result from a PCR test which should have been conducted not more than 72 hours before departure from the country of origin.
Ghana’s active coronavirus case count stood at 897 as at 1 January 2021, with 18 people severely ill, 55,220 cumulative positive cases and 336 so far having succumbed to the disease.
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