Ghana Health Service has announced stricter COVID-19 measures at the Kotoka Airport , from Tuesday, December 14, 2021
This follows the discovery of 7 more new omicron variant, bringing the number of recorded cases for the newly discovered variant to 41.
The increase in cases of the new variant, has a potential of rolling back the gains Ghana has made in the fight against COVID-19, hence the measures.
As part of the measures, which is expected to impact both passengers and airlines, the Ghana Health Service has indicated that persons arriving into the country must be fully vaccinated.
‘‘Unvaccinated Ghanaians or persons arriving at the Airport will be vaccinated upon arrival, ’’ the Ghana Health Service stated.
For the Airlines, some even more stricter measures have been announced for their operations. Among others the Ghana Health Service has announced that Airlines which bring unvaccinated persons to the Airport shall be surcharged $3, 500, per passenger.
Additionally, Airlines which transport passengers with positive PCR test results, will also be fined $ 3, 500 for each passenger.
The Ghana Health Service further announced that non-Ghanaian passengers with positive PCR results will be denied entry and returned at the cost to the Airline whereas Ghanaian passengers with positive PCR test will be allowed entry, subject to a 14-day mandatory quarantine at a designated facility.
On December 03, 2021, Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) said it detected the virus in 34 out of the 120 samples collected from travelers arriving at the Kotoka International Airport between Nov. 21 and 24.
