President Akufo-Addo has said the digitisation of PCR tests at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) is to prevent the use of fake Covid-19 PCR certificates used by travellers at the airport.
Adding it is also to ensure the easy verification of PCR tests results of passengers.
Government some weeks ago introduced the PanaBios system at KIA which mandated all passengers travelling in and out of the country to register and generate a Trust Travel code.
The deployment of the comprehensive technology by government for use by all travelers formed part of efforts to avert a third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country and to address the issue of fake results presented by some passengers to health authorities.
Delivering his 25th televised address to the nation on measures taken to mitigate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the country, the president noted that he is satisfied with the sensitivity and specificity of the new testing regime at KIA.
“The technology platform being used at KIA is based on standards set by the Africa Trust Travel and ECOWAS Biomars. All travellers arriving in Ghana must have test results or certificates bearing the trusted travel or biomars codes to be acceptable at KIA.”
“We have re-evaluated quality checks on testing at KIA, and we are satisfied with the sensitivity and specificity of the testing regime there. All arriving passengers who test positive will follow the laid down procedure. Those who test negative from designated COVID-19 hotspots, and testing negative at KIA, may be subjected to a repeat test on the third day of arrival,” averred President Akufo-Addo.
Meanwhile, the president has announced the deployment of the second dose of AstraZeneca vaccines effective Wednesday, May 19, 2021.
“I’m happy to announce that beginning Wednesday 19th of May, to Wednesday 26th May, the deployment of the 2nd dose of vaccines will take place across the designated vaccination centers in the 43 districts approximately 12 weeks after the first jab, as the science prescribes”.
The President indicated that details of the deployment will be communicated by the Ghana Health Service (GHS) in the coming week.
This comes after the first dose of vaccines was rolled out in March, 2021.
According to the President close to 900,000 persons were vaccinated during the first phase of the vaccination exercise.
He also noted that “government is making all efforts to achieving the overall vaccination target.”
“We are expecting an additional 300,000 doses of Sputnik 5 vaccines which have already been approved by the food and drugs authority to arrive in the country. As when we make progress in the acquisition of vaccines, the Health and Information Ministries will make this known to the public,” the President added
