Govt will pay for treatment of arrivals who test positive - Dep. Health Minister

Deputy Minister of Health Dr. Bernard Okoe-Boye has said the state will bear the cost of treatment for all arrivals who test positive for the Coronavirus.

Six positive cases of COVID-19 have been recorded at the Kotoka International since it was reopened to international traffic

On Thursday, 6th September 2020, deputy health minister Dr. Bernard Okoe Boye said the first case was recorded on Friday, with two others on Saturday and the other three on Sunday.

According to him, these individuals had reported with a negative PCR test from their countries of origin.

He stated that these cases were detected because of the $150 Covid-19 test government insisted on for travellers.

“All our troubles in Ghana started with just about four or five cases. So, really those who are talking about $150, if we had gone for a compromised technology and those with negative PCR tests had slipped in, all we need is one gentleman who is positive with a viral load, that is huge, visit us in this country and we are back to a lockdown.”

Reacting to whether or not travellers will bear the cost of treatment should they test positive, Dr Okoe Boye said the government has that covered.

“I can say confidently that our main goal is to take care of everyone who has been confirmed to have the virus. In discussing the cost that the traveller will absorb the only one that we mentioned was the testing. As far as I know, when they go to the hospital we are going to take care of them.”

He further indicated the various protocols that have been put in place to accommodate COVID-19 positive arrivals.

“We have some protocols for health management at the airport which includes the COVID-19 testing. By the time an individual gets to the port health desk, their results will be on port health’s system. So if you are fortunate you are shepherded through immigration quietly and taken to a holding room at the airport for further examinations and finally transported to an isolation centre.”

Meanwhile, Ghana’s active COVID-19 cases stand at 801 with a total case count of 44,777.

The country has also recorded 43,693 recoveries and 283 deaths.