After six weeks since the reopening of Kotoka International Airport (KIA) on September 1, 2020, a total 30,564 passengers who arrived at the airport have been tested for the novel Coronavirus, out of which 92 passengers tested positive, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has stated.
Addressing the nation on Sunday, October 18, 2020, from the Peduase Lodge after a cabinet retreat for the year 2020, Akufo-Addo told Ghanaians that, “all 92 are asymptomatic cases, whose status, but for the test, would not have been detected, and would have spread the disease amongst the rest of the population.
He continued: “I am aware that some are calling for the government to extend the PCR negative test period before boarding the flight from three days to at least five days.
“I believe, in the context of the second wave of infections that is engulfing so many countries of Europe and America, that we have to insist on the three-day period. It is better to be safe than sorry.
“Indeed, across the country, the Government has seen to the expansion of COVID-19 testing facilities, from the initial (2) to sixteen (16), which include those of private sector providers.”
Akufo-Addo noted that the country’s goal is to have zero active cases of the Novel Coronavirus.
He said, although Ghana has done well in tackling the pandemic, the virus is still lurking around.
To that end, he has urged all Ghanaians to “continue to comply with the measures put in place to deal with the virus. This is the surest way by which we can defeat the virus.”
“Zero active cases must be the goal and I have no doubt that together and with the help of God, this too shall pass for the battle is still the Lord’s.”
Watch the President’s address below.
