The Government of Ghana has released an enhanced travel guideline for passengers and Airlines in a bid to reduce the recent upsurge in COVID-19 positive cases.

Speaking at a press briefing in Accra on Tuesday, the Information Minister-Designate, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah announced some new rates which he said forms part of the Enhanced Amendment made on the COVID-19 Safety Guidelines at the country’s Airport.

The Information Minister-Designate said that Airlines that fail to present PCR test results of their passengers before disembarkation at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) will pay a fine of $3,500 per passenger. He revealed that non-ECOWAS citizens are required to pay $150 for COVID-19 testing at the KIA, while Ghanaians and ECOWAS citizens are to pay $50 each, effective February 8, 2021.

“Airlines who board passengers without PCR test results or who transport or disembark passengers with positive PCR results into Accra will be fined $3,500 per passenger.

“Ghanaian residents departing the country and return within a week will no longer be required to present COVID-19 rresults from the country of departure. There will however undergo mandatory COVID-19 testing upon arrival in Ghana.”
Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, Information Minister-Designate

As part of the amendment made, he intimated that non-Ghanaian citizens may be refused entry at the country’s airport and returned to their point of departure at the cost of the airline if there is no proof of adherence to COVID-19 safety guidelines.

“All arriving passengers who test positive for COVID-19 would undergo mandatory isolation and treatment at designated health facility at their own cost, except Ghanaian citizens.”
Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, Information Minister-Designate

He said transit passengers through Ghana would not be required to undergo COVID-19 testing, but would be required to take the COVID-19 test at the country of destination. He added that passengers arriving in the country under emergency circumstances due to flight diversion would not be required to undergo COVID-19 testing but would not leave the enclave of the airport unless the person is being isolated.

Mr Oppong Nkrumah urged Ghanaians travelling outside to get to the airport four hours before departure for the necessary COVID-19 checks before the scheduled departure time. He said children under five years would not be required to undergo COVID-19 testing at the country’s airport.

Ghana’s COVID- 19 Cases

The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has confirmed 675 new coronavirus cases, pushing the country’s active cases to 6, 938. This takes Ghana’s total confirmed cases to 73,003 while the death toll hits 482 after ten fatalities were recorded recently.

Speaking at a media briefing today in Accra, Director General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr. Patrick Kumah Aboagye noted that Greater Accra is still the epicenter of the disease with increasing number of workplace outbreaks. He, however, said there has been a drop from the seven hundred and above threshold the country has been recording in the last few weeks.

On the situation at the airport, he said there has been a reduction in positive cases being recorded. Meanwhile, no South African strain of the virus has been detected in Ghana so far.