Ahead of the reopening of Kotoka International Airport (KIA) to international traffic September 1, the Aviation Ministry, in partnership with Zoomlion Ghana Limited (ZGL), has disinfected the KIA and its open spaces.
The exercise, which came off Monday (August 31, 2020), was to pave way, once again, for KIA to resume operations.
It was among government measures to halt the further spread of the coronavirus pandemic, especially in the light of the fact that the country’s first cases were imported.
Speaking to journalists, General Manager, Vector Control at ZGL, Rev Ebenezer Kwame Addae, explained that the exercise, which was the second time that KIA was being disinfected, was meant to kill all viruses hiding anywhere at the airport environment.
He said while the first disinfection was targeted at curbing the spread of the virus, the second was aimed at destroying every virus hiding around the airport environment.
Besides these two exercises, he said regular disinfections would be carried out in three phases at the KIA.
He revealed that this would be done by KIA designated staff members at scheduled periods in the morning, afternoon and evening.
“The morning disinfection will cover the terminals, arrival halls, while the evening exercise take care of all other departments at the airport including the airport clinic,” The GM of Vector Control, ZGL, said.
Rev Addae assured the general public of their safety adding that with the strict observance of the COVID-19 safety protocols, the airport will be safer for the general public.”
The Minister of Aviation, Mr Joseph Kofi Adda, said the government had put in place adequate safety measures at the KIA to protect passengers and staff members from the malignant virus.
These measures, he mentioned, included the installation of COVID-19 testing facilities.
He, therefore, commended Zoomlion for its quick response to disinfect and fumigate KIA and its environs.
Earlier, a deputy Minister of Health, Dr. Bernard Okoe Boye, addressing a news conference at the KIA reaffirmed that the country has put adequate measures in please to be able to detect possible COVID-19 cases at the airport.
He went on to stress that the measures would will help prevent any infected person from slipping through the radar.