Coronavirus: Ghana to resume international flights on Tuesday

31 Août 2020

Accra, Ghana, August 31 (Infosplusgabon) - Ghana is to resume international flights on Tuesday, 1 September, as the country's COVID-19 figures continue to slide down and after adequate preparations made by the health and aviation authorities at the Kotoka International Airport in Accra to prevent the importation of the virus.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo said in his 16th update on the pandemic that since the very first cases of COVID-19 in Ghana were imported the government is determined to make sure this scenario does not recur. All land, sea and air borders were closed on 22 March.

Under strict measures, all passengers must be in possession of a negative COVID-19 PCR test result from an accredited laboratory in the country of origin and the test should have been done not more than 72 hours before the scheduled departure.

"All airlines have been instructed to ensure compliance with this directive for all passengers wishing to travel to Ghana, and those airlines who fail in this regard will be duly sanctioned."

President Akufo-Addo said disembarking passengers must wear face masks and all passenger will undergo a mandatory COVID-19 test at the airport terminal, at a fee to be borne by the passenger. The test result will be available within 30 minutes. Children under-five years will not be required to undergo testing at the airport.

Passengers who test positive will be handled by the health authorities for further clinical assessment and management and passengers who test negative can enter Ghana.

President Akufo-Addo said as at last Friday the number of active cases stood 1,059 with 42,963 patients having recovered, adding that the death toll is 276.

"In as much as these statistics are encouraging, in contrast to what is pertaining in several countries across the world, we cannot afford to let our guard down," he said.

"We have to maintain, in a state of constant readiness, the enhanced infrastructure and expertise we have built during the period of the virus to cope with it."

All land and sea borders beaches, pubs, cinemas and nightclubs remain closed until further notice.

On the education, final year tertiary students have completed their exit examinations, while continuing students are back in school to complete the academic year.

Final year Senior High School (SHS) students are writing their exit examinations while final year Junior High School (JHS) students are preparing for their exit examinations.

Second year SHS and second year JHS students will return to school from 5 October to 14 December 2020 to complete their academic year.

Meanwhile, the Ghana Education Service has decided to postpone the remainder of the academic year for all nursery, kindergarten, primary, JHS 1 and SHS 1 students.

"The next academic year will resume in January 2021, with appropriate adjustments made to the curriculum, to ensure that nothing is lost from the previous year. The relevant dispositions will also be made so that the presence, at the same time, in school of all streams of students, can occur in safety," President Akufo-Addo said.

He announced that in the next couple of weeks, a decision will also be taken on the resumption of contact sports, including football, taking into consideration the imminent participation of the national teams in international competitions.

President Akufo-Addo noted with disappointment that people are flouting COVID-19 protocols, especially the wearing of masks.

"This is not acceptable, as the enhanced hygiene, mask wearing and social distancing protocols must now be central features of our lives, and they must continue to remain so for some time to come, until we see to the elimination of the virus from our country."

He warned that severe sanctions will be applied to those who want to continue to disregard these protocols to endanger the rest of the population through their actions and negligence.

FIN/ INFOSPLUSGABON/AFD/GABON2020

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