Airport re-opening: Travellers to Ghana will pay $150 for Covid-19 testing

Government says all travellers coming to Ghana by air are supposed to pay $150 (¢868) for a mandatory Covid-19 testing

This follows the reopening of the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) to international passenger traffic, as announced by the President yesterday, August 30.

The mandatory testing, forms part of directives outlined by the Ministry of Aviation and Health to ensure safe reopening of the country’s air borders in order to prevent importation of the COVID-19 disease.

According to the Managing Director of the Ghana Airports Company Limited, Yaw Kwakwa, the accuracy of the test is around 99 to 100 percent.

He noted this, speaking during a press conference to update the nation on measures taken ahead of the reopening of the airport on September 1.

“It takes a maximum of 30 minutes for a particular passenger to go through the entire process and get his or her results.

“This system is so convenient that passengers will practically go through our terminal building with only a fraction of time added to what they used to do before,” he added.

He also stated that with the help of a service provider, the various measures that have been put in place will ensure that passengers go through the protocols smoothly.

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The Deputy Minister for Health Dr Benard Oko-Boye said the $150 fee for the testing was a good bargain since “nothing is more expensive than contracting Covid-19 itself”.

He also argued that “the cost of the test will not put unnecessary difficulty or burden on the passenger. We looked at what is being charged across the globe so when you go to a place like Zimbabwe you pay about $210 for a test.

“In China, you pay about $150 for a test and they are even doing PCR which is a very good test that identifies the virus itself. But in China after paying $150 you have to wait for about 6 hours average before you get results.

“Also remember that anyone coming into Ghana must have a negative PCR test and on the average, in Europe, if you enter a lab to do that, it is about 100 euros.

“Here at the airport, we are interested in two things; the test must be very specific and sensitize which means it must tell us if you have the virus and if it says it’s negative then you pose no threat to Ghanaians.

“We were also interested in how long it takes to get the results. And with these two indicators, we now had to decide whether $150 dollars of having the two most important requirements met is reasonable or not.”

The Deputy Minister also added that a percentage of the revenue generated from the testing will go into the development and maintenance of the airport.