Passengers disembarking at the re-opened Kotoka International Airport took the mandatory COVID-19 test as part of measures to contain the pandemic in Ghana.

Some of the passengers who spoke to the Ghana News Agency expressed satisfaction about the processes, saying the test was smooth and fast.

Mr Ernest Kumi, a passenger and a Ghanaian student in Germany, said the COVID-19 test result took 28 minutes to show.

He expressed concern about the double testing and described the process as stressful.

Nana Sefah, a passenger from United States of America, said it took him 30 minutes to go through the test and required checks at the airport.

President Akufo-Addo in his 16th address to the nation on Sunday August 30, announced the reopening of the Kotoka International Airport from Tuesday, September 1, 2020.

President Akufo-Addo said the country’s preventive measures put in place at the airport would ensure that any passenger arriving in the country must be in possession of a negative COVID-19 PCR test result from an accredited laboratory in the country of origin.

According to him, the test should have been done not more than 72 hours before the scheduled departure from the country of origin.

Mr Henry Quartey, Deputy Minister of State in charge of National Security, who was at the airport to observe how passengers were adhering to the protocols, expressed satisfaction about the process.

"We are here as a team to observe the processes that passengers are going through and adhering to the health protocols and possibly improve areas of concern," he said.

The Minister said some of the passengers did not undergo the COVID-19 test because they were part of the stranded Ghanaians abroad who were being evacuated.

He explained that such stranded Ghanaians would go through the 14-day mandatory quarantine.

Madam Barbara Sam, a Public Relations Officer, Ghana Immigration Service, Kotoka International Airport, said her outfit had provided Personal Protection Equipment for its officers.

She said a seven-member team made up of senior Immigration officers would ensure that the COVID-19 health protocols were strictly observed.

She appealed to all disembarking passengers to co-operate with Immigration Officers by adhering to their directives.