Effective Monday, November 16, children between the ages of five and 12 years will henceforth enjoy free mandatory Covid test upon arrival at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA).
However, children below five years are exempted from the test. All others outside this age bracket must pay $150 for the antigen test carried out at the Upper Arrival Hall of the Terminal 3 at KIA by Frontier Health Care.
The updated Covid-19 guidelines for KIA, published by the Ghana Airports Company Limited on Friday, noted that “children between the ages of five and 12 years will undergo testing on arrival free of charge.”
The decision to include children in the age bracket indicated followed rising positive cases recorded among inbound passengers at KIA and within the general population.
Imported cases of Covid-19, detected by screening all arriving passengers, has gone up by 87 per cent, increasing from 92 to 172 between mid-October and November 6.
A total of 54,000 arriving international passengers had been screened with 172 positive cases recorded as of November 6.
Ghana on September 1, re-opened the Airport for scheduled passenger operations, after six months of closure, with a stringent testing regime in place.
Upon arrival, passengers who are required to pay $150 for the Covid-19 test online prior to arrival in Ghana, have their receipts verified before proceeding to the sampling cubicles located at Upper Arrival of Terminal 3, KIA for their samples to be taken.
Results are transmitted electronically to Port Health in the main arrival hall.
At the arrival hall, passengers are screened at one of the Port Health stations and results of their Covid-19 tests made known to them.
Arriving passengers, who test negative, proceed to immigration and onto baggage claim for their luggage and then exit the terminal.
Positive cases receive further clinical assessment and treatment.