Testing passengers for coronavirus at the airport pays off - President

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said that the government's decision to test international passengers for Coronavirus at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) has paid off.

He said the 26 positive cases recorded at the airport would have mingled with the unsuspecting public.

Following the reopening of the airport on Tuesday, September 1,2020 to international flights after six months closure, the government directed all disembarking passengers to produce a negative PCR test result.

In addition, they were required to undergo a mandatory Antigen Testing at the airport to ascertain their COVID-19 status at a cost of $150.

Individual passengers were required to foot the cost of the PCR Antigen Testing at the airport, which attracted criticisms from a section of the public.

However, President Akufo-Addo, in his 17th televised address on measures taken to contain the virus on Sunday night, indicated that the measures instituted at the KIA had been useful and aided in halting the importation of new virus into the system.

"A lot of the people who experienced at first hand the services being offered at the airport had praised the country for the innovation and farsightedness."

"I will do everything in my power to protect and stop the importation of the virus," the President assured.

President Akufo-Addo announced that 16 out of the 23 airlines that operated at the KIA prior to the closure had commenced flights, with 10,061 passengers undergoing the Antigen Test.

" The improvement in the COVID-19 situation is due to the effectiveness of the measures put in place by Government, the cooperation and support of all Ghanaians."

"We cannot afford at this critical moment to throw caution to the wind and destroy the incredible amount of work undertaken by Government, health officials and members of the security agencies in bringing us this far," he added.

As of Friday, September 18, a total of 45,258 people had recovered from COVID-19 infections in Ghana, with less than 530 active cases after conducting over 450,000 tests.

A total of 297 persons have succumbed to COVID-19 due to underlying illnesses such as hypertension, diabetes, chronic liver, and asthma.