Out of the over 10,000 passengers who have been tested for COVID-19 at the Kotoka International Airport(KIA), 26 persons have tested positive for the virus, President Akufo-Addo has disclosed.
Delivering his 17th address to the nation since the outbreak of the virus, the President said: Sixteen (16) out of the twenty-three (23) airlines that operated in in the KIA prior to its closure have, again, commenced flights to and from Accra.
As at yesterday, Saturday, (19th September, 2020) a total of ten thousand and sixty-one (10,061) passengers have been tested at the KIA.
“In spite of the requirement that all passengers must be in possession of a negative PCR test result upon their arrival in Ghana, a test which should have been conducted not more than seventy-two (72) hours before the scheduled departure from the country of origin, a total of twenty-six (26) positive cases have been recorded from the tests at KIA” the president said.
The President, in his 16th address three weeks ago, announced government’s decision to reopen the airport as public health officials were prepared to conduct rapid tests to at the airport.
The airport was closed to international passenger traffic about five months ago as part of restrictions to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.
As at Friday, 18th September, 2020, the number of active cases of the virus, that is persons with the virus, stood at 507, with some regions recording zero active cases.
“When I delivered Update No. 16, exactly three weeks ago, the number of recorded active cases, that is persons with the virus, stood at one thousand, eight hundred and forty-seven (1,847). This number, as at Friday, 18th September 2020, has reduced considerably to five hundred and seven (507) persons.
“So far, a total of forty-five thousand, two hundred and fifty-eight (45,258) persons have recovered, and two hundred and ninety-seven (297) persons, a great majority of them with underlying illnesses, such as hypertension, diabetes, chronic liver disease and asthma, have sadly died, “the President added
