President Nana Akufo-Addo, in his sixteenth update on enhanced measures to defeat the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic, announced the reopening of the country’s borders by air.   After several weeks of thorough work, the president said he was satisfied that it was safe to open. “I’m glad to announce that Kotoka International Airport will reopen and resume operations from Tuesday 1^st September 2020,” he said in his address to the nation.

All international airlines have been informed and briefed on the protocols that have been put in place to keep the country’s continued proactive measures against the spread of the virus.  It was noted that the first few cases were imported from travellers arriving in Ghana and that the country will remain vigilant to prevent this from happening again.

There have been protocols put in place to maintain Ghana’s dedication to prevent new importations of the virus with the open borders.    Any passenger arriving in Ghana must have a copy of a negative Covid-19 PCR test result from an accredited laboratory in their country of origin.  They must have completed the test within 72 hours of travel.  All arriving passengers in Ghana must we wearing face masks as they disembark, and they will undergo mandatory Covid-19 testing at the airport terminal.  The fees for the test would be the responsibility of the passenger.  Results would be available within 30 minutes and those who test negative are free to go to their destination and must observe all covid-19 precautionary measures.  Those who test positive would be handled by health authorities.

Ghana’s borders have been closed since March leaving many travellers stuck both in and out of the country.  There are also several diasporans who had trips planned to Ghana that were cancelled or postponed. Many of them have been anticipating the reopening of Ghana’s borders. The border reopening is welcome news to those who have been anxious to either leave or return to Ghana.  The president added that borders by land and sea are still closed to human traffic until further notice.