Antigen test to take 12-15 minutes, with no quarantine for arriving passengers

Business news for Friday, August 28, 2020

Source: Business 24

2020-08-28

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As part of the preparations for the opening of Kotoka International Airport for the resumption of international airline operations, arriving passengers will be required to perform an antigen test in any of the more than 70 sample collection booths installed on the level. top of the arrivals hall. and results ready in 12-15 minutes.

A state-of-the-art laboratory, which is being installed on the upper level of the arrivals hall to process the samples, will transmit the results electronically to the port health stations in the main arrivals hall before a passenger arrives.

All passengers with negative antigen tests will be cleared by Port Health to proceed to the immigration counter and be admitted to Ghana.

Passengers with positive antigen tests will be delivered by the port health authorities to health professionals stationed at the facility for transfer to treatment or isolation centers.

With this arrangement, all passengers who arrive with negative results will not bear the additional burden of an expensive 14-day quarantine, as has been the case with the numerous repatriation flights made in recent months.

However, passengers are expected to pay the cost of the antigen test which is estimated to be between GH ¢ 200-400.

It will be recalled that the president, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, linked the reopening of Terminal 3 at Kotoka International Airport (KIA), possibly on September 1, to the country’s ability to test each passenger upon arrival.

Aviation Minister Joseph Kofi Adda, speaking after a tour of the facility to determine the level of readiness, told Business24 that: “We have done our best, GACL service providers have been working through the night and we have the hope that after the simulation exercise on Friday and Saturday, we will be able to open before September 1 “.

Passengers leaving

However, passengers traveling from Ghana to other parts of the world will need to take a PCR test 72 hours before departure and submit a negative result to port health officials for verification before they are allowed to complete the paperwork. output.

The use of a mask is mandatory for all passengers except children under six years of age and for medical reasons, which must be proven.

President Akufo-Addo is expected to address the nation on Sunday and possibly announce the opening of the KIA if the planned simulation exercises are successful.