31 Foreign nationals denied entry, 9 quarantined

The Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) has said 31 foreigners who were seeking entry into the country have been denied entry.

Those refused entries included 27 people at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) and four at the Aflao Border.

Also, nine Filipino seamen who had arrived at the shores of Ghana on transit before the effective time of the ban had been quarantined to be escorted into their ship, which is expected to arrive today.

The action follows the coming into effect of Executive directives banning arrivals by non-Ghanaians from origins where there are more than 200 reported cases of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, gave far reaching directives last Sunday, shutting down schools, banning gatherings of more than 25 people and imposing travel restrictions on Ghanaians and non-Ghanaians.

Briefing

A Deputy Comptroller-General of Immigration in charge of Operations and Command Posts, Mr Laud Ofori Affrifa, disclosed thus when he took his turn to address the media at the Ministry of Information’s mid-week press briefings.

He said some other foreigners were refused entry at the land borders where rigorous enforcement had started in earnest.

They included a Nigerian who had travelled to South Korea in the last four days before seeking entry into Ghana, a German and two Australians.

In-bound flights

Mr Affrifa said those refused entry at the KIA included 24 Chinese and a German on board Ethiopian Airline flights and two Italians on an Air France flight who were not allowed to disembark.
"In fact, we did not allow the Italians to disembark because we normally have the travel advice from the airlines and
we screen it and see who is on board before they come.

So the two Italians were noted on the Air France flight and a joint team made up of officials of the GIS and the Port Health Authority went on board and explained the situation to them and they were not allowed to disembark," he said.

Airlines refused landing

He said some airlines heading for Abidjan in Cote d’Ivoire were re-routed to the KIA because of the closure of the airport there, but he flights were also refused landing at the KIA.

"This morning [Wednesday], there was an incident in Abidjan. The airport is closed because of an incident on the tarmac, so flights were being diverted into Ghana. In consultation with the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority, all those flights were refused landing and sent back.

“One Ethiopian Airline flight had landed without permission and so the passengers were not allowed to disembark. We facilitated refueling and they continued on their journey,” Mr Affrifa said.

Drop in arrivals

He added that flight statistics that the GIS had indicated that there had been a drop in passenger inflow, especially on the major airlines.

He indicated that last Tuesday, for instance, British Airways, which normally brought in about 350 passengers, brought in 140.

KLM, which could bring in about 450, ferried only 128; Tap Portugal, which would normally bring in about 150, brought in 12, while Kenyan Airways, which would normally bring in about 120, brought in 66, he said.

Emirate Airlines, which normally brought in 380, had 174 on board.

Contact tracing, state of confirmed cases

The Director of Public Health at the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Ebenezer Badu Sarkodie, said in relation to efforts to reach all persons who had come into contact with the confirmed cases, 381 people had been identified.

“The contacts have risen to 381. None of them has yet been confirmed as a suspected case and all of them are being followed up and are doing well,” he explained.

He added that none of them had shown signs of the disease.

Dr Sarkodie assured the public that all the confirmed cases were stable and responding to treatment.

The Director-General of the GHS, Dr Patrick Kumah Aboagye, indicated that all the people who had been asked to self-isolate because they had come into contact with one of the first six patients of COVID-19 were being monitored strictly.

He said the GHS was doing that through phone calls and physical visits.

Writer’s email doreen.andoh@graphic.com.gh