Frontiers Healthcare Services, managers of Ghana’s COVID-19 airport testing programme at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) is raising concerns over the alarming importation of covid-19 positive cases into the country.
In a statement, the Frontiers Healthcare Services stated that on Saturday 24th April 2021, seventy-five (75) ‘unprecedented’ covid-19 cases have been recorded at the KIA.
“Today, 24th of April, 2021 we recorded seventy-five (75) positive cases. This exceeds the previous highest rate of forty-five (45) cases on 21th of April, 2021.
The Frontiers Healthcare Services is thus ‘appealing to all stakeholders to implement stringent measures on the quality of PCR results acceptable for entry into the country”.
It further stated that “it has become imperative to implement new guidelines to curtail the influx of positive cases into the country”.
As of April 16, Ghana has 1,334 active cases of the novel coronavirus, 89,604 recoveries/discharges and 771 deaths.
The Health Ministry recently rolled out the digital verification of Covid-19 tests in the country.
This is geared towards enhancing the processes during departure and arrival at Ghana’s air, land, and sea ports.
According to a statement signed by Kwaku Agyemang Manu, the system which is being implemented with the support of the Ghana Health Service (GHS) and the PanaBIOS Consortium “covers all unauthorised Covid-19 PCR testing laboratories in the country.”
It is expected to “help stop the circulation of fake test results, which if left unchecked would damage the country’s effort to reduce the spread of the Covid-19 infection through imported cases.”
Ghana is the first country to employ the system based on the African Union Trusted Travel and ECOWAS BIOMARS standard, says the April 20 press release.
“All travellers, Airlines and Diplomatic Missions, Port Health, Covid-19 testing laboratories and all other relevant stakeholders in Ghana are informed that only test results and certificates bearing Trust Travel or BIOMARS codes will be considered valid for travel out of Ghana from April 21,”
Below is the full statement…
