Health authorities at Ghana’s main Kotoka International Airport (KIA) are on high alert over the outbreak of coronavirus in some Asian countries, an official said here on Friday.
The head of port health at the KIA Gideon Akwei said this was part of the measures introduced by the Ghanaian government to prevent the importation of the disease, which has been recorded in China and some other countries.
He explained that thermal scanners installed during the outbreak of the deadly Ebola Virus between 2013 and 2016 had become useful in this exercise of screening passengers on flights coming from the Coronavirus affected countries.
“The thermal scanner will pick the temperature of travelers, and any traveler whose temperature is above the threshold of 37.7 degrees will have to step out of the queue for further interviewing,” AkwEi explained.
An officer checks the temperature again, this time with a non-contact thermometer, and if it remains above the threshold, the passenger is detained, and taken to the designated disease management centers at the Greater Accra regional hospital and Tema general hospital.
The authorities are also required to report any suspected case to the focal person of the international health regulations.
There are two daily flights; Ethiopian and Emirates Airlines from China to Ghana, and Chinese nationals top the list of inbound traffic into the country daily, according to the Ghana Immigration Service.
“Because of the emerging and re-emerging diseases, we are always alert. Our duty is to safeguard the import and export of diseases which are regarded as an international threat,” he added. Enditem
