General Secretary of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA), Dr Titus Beyuo, has welcomed government’s decision to withdraw the compulsory PCR testing of fully vaccinated persons at the country’s airport.

He revealed that the easing of restrictions by President Akufo-Addo is a welcomed move due to the decreasing number of cases being recorded in the country. Dr Beyuo intimated that considering the nature of the cases currently, there is the need for government to return some life to normalcy.

“I think they are welcomed reliefs if I should put it that way… We are happy with them. The Medical Association, we just completed our Council meeting over the weekend and it was the decision of the Council that we thought that at this point, some of these restrictions needed to be lifted… In particular, we are happy that fully vaccinated persons do not need to be subjected to this testing at the airport, and I think that is very welcomed”.
Dr Titu Beyuo

His comments followed the announcement by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo that fully vaccinated persons arriving at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) will no longer present a negative PCR COVID-19 test from the country of embarkation. The President indicated that from Monday, March 28, 2022, such travellers will also not be tested on arrival. He, however, expressed that for those who have not been fully vaccinated, they will have to provide a negative PCR COVID-19 test in addition to an antigen test.

Production of PPE’s in the country

Commenting on the local production of PPE’s in the country during the height of the pandemic in the country, Dr Beyuo noted that there is a cause for concern if products from these local manufacturers are not being seen in the public space. He revealed that the fact that they were able to rise up to the occasion during such crucial moment meant that they had the capacity to produce.

“So, if you are no longer seeing them, it means somebody is not procuring them from that source and we have to ask our procurement system. Is it that the local production is more expensive compared to the foreign production? How are we supporting the local production that helped us in the height of the crisis? If factories had to change their production line and help us in this crisis when other countries were shut and things have returned to normalcy and we turn our backs on them in terms of national procurement; that will be very unfortunate”.
Dr Titu Beyuo

Following this, he urged government to still engage some of these factories that helped the country during the height of the pandemic to continue to produce the PPE’s as they have demonstrated capacity.

President Akufo-Addo in his COVID-19 updates on March 27, 2022, equally announced the easing of the compulsory wearing of face masks at public places, effective Monday, March 28, 2022. That notwithstanding, he urged Ghanaians to continue to adhere to enhanced hygienic practices such as the washing of hands.

The President indicated that as of Friday, 25th March 2022, the total number of active cases stood at seventy-two (72) with the COVID-19 treatment centres in the country being empty, as the 4th wave appears to be over.