In a bid to stem the spread of the omicron variant of COVID-19, Ghana’s health and aviation authorities have issued, what could be, the harshest ever imposed guidelines, to airlines flying passengers into the country.
In a statement announcing the sweeping directives, health authorizes said effective Tuesday, December 14, 2021, all persons flying in and out of Ghana are to be “fully vaccinated and to strictly follow stipulated guidelines for both self-preservation and the protection of the larger societies.”
They also warned air carriers which bring in passengers who are not fully vaccinated shall be surcharged $3,500 per passenger, and airlines which board passengers without PCR test results or transport and disembark passengers with positive PCR test results will also be fined $3,500 per passenger.
Ghanaian passengers who fall into this category will still be allowed entry but subject to 14 days of mandatory quarantine at a designated facility. However, non Ghanaians will be denied entry and returned to the point of embarkation at a cost to the airline.
Additionally, no airline will be allowed to bring passengers into Ghana without first pre-validating their TT code (received from a TT lab) or TC issued online after a genuine PCR test result has been uploaded and analyzed using the PanaBIOS or Global Haven software.
According to the Ghana Aviation Authority (GAA), airlines that flout the directive will also be surcharged US$3,500 per passenger.
Health authorities justify the decision to impose these stringent measures on both airlines and their passengers on the recent discovery of 34 cases of the omicron variant at the Kotoka International airport. The country’s sole international airport accounts for about 64% of the country’s total case count.
