Travelers who do not fill out a health disclosure form before boarding a trip to Kotoka International Airport will be fined by airlines.
Ghana has announced that airlines would be fined $3,500 for each passenger who lands at the capital’s international airport without having received complete COVID-19 vaccination. The state-owned Ghana Airport Company stated that under new restrictions that take effect on Wednesday, air carriers would be fined the same amount for passengers who do not fill out a health disclosure form before boarding their trip to Kotoka International Airport in Accra.
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Foreigners may be denied entrance if they fly in without completing the requirements, according to the airport authorities. Ghanaians who fly in without meeting the requirements will be permitted to enter the nation and would be subjected to a 14-day quarantine. Ghana has imposed some of the strongest coronavirus-related restrictions in West Africa, and these are the newest steps taken by the country.
The new penalties came a day after the country began requiring all travelers over the age of 18 to provide proof of complete immunization against COVID-19, claiming that the airport was responsible for about 60% of all new cases documented in the country during a two-week period.
“The current increase in cases, combined with the detection of the Omicron variant among international arrivals, and the expected increase during the festive season, necessitates immediate action to avoid a major surge in COVID-19 cases in Ghana,” the Ghana Health Service said in a statement last week.
Ghana has one of the greatest COVID-19 testing programs in the area, with a population of roughly 31 million people. Since the outbreak, there have been 132,000 confirmed cases and 1,243 deaths.
According to data compiled by the Reuters news agency, slightly more than five percent of the country’s population has so far been vaccinated.
Authorities this month launched an enormous vaccination drive ahead of the enforcement from January 22 of a vaccine mandate for targeted groups, including government employees, health workers and students. The government plans to recruit more health workers to be able to double daily inoculation from 140,000.
