Accra: Ghana has said it will fine airlines $3,500 for each passenger who arrives in the capital’s international airport without being fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Under new measures taking effect on Wednesday, air carriers will also be penalised the same amount for travellers who did not fill out a health declaration form before boarding their flight to Kotoka International Airport in Accra, the state-owned Ghana Airport Company said.
While Ghanaians who fly in without meeting the requirement will be allowed to enter the country and undergo 14-day quarantine, foreigners may be refused entry, the airport authority said. The measures are just the latest taken by Ghana, which has introduced some of the strictest coronavirus-related restrictions in West Africa. The new penalties come a day after the country began requiring all passengers over the age of 18 to provide evidence of full vaccination against COVID-19, saying that about 60 per cent of the total new cases recorded in the country had come from the airport during a recent two-week period.
Ghana, with about 31 million people, has one of the best COVID-19 testing programmes in the region. It has had 132,000 confirmed cases and 1,243 deaths since the pandemic began. According to sources, slightly more than 5 per cent of the country’s population has so far been vaccinated. Authorities this month launched an enormous vaccination drive ahead of the enforcement from January 22nd of a vaccine mandate for targeted groups, including government employees, health workers and students.