President Akufo-Addo has expressed his satisfaction with the measures the government has instituted to deal with the threat of the novel Coronavirus disease (COVID-19)

Coronavirus: How a British cabin crew member rates Ghana’s surveillance at Kotoka to that of Heathrow (AUDIO))

graphic.com.gh Mar - 11 - 2020 , 15:38 2 minutes read

A British cabin crew member has commended Ghana’s preparedness and surveillance at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) for the deadly Coronavirus disease [COVID-19] which has killed over 4,200 people worldwide.

The cabin crew member whose name was given as Stewart, said in a radio interview with the BBC on Tuesday that “it was amazing to me that the Ghanaian officials were so on top of it.”

He was comparing the preventive measures being taken by Ghanaian authorities at specifically at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA), to that of the UK’s preparedness at the Heathrow Airport.

“When I got to Accra on Saturday night, they had everything laid out. I thought I was in a surgical ward at the airport. And that is supposed to be a third world country and they had people dressed up in hazmat suits. They took our temperatures and everything.”

“I went into Accra on Saturday. I came back to Heathrow this morning at 5:30. I walked through Heathrow, not a person there, not even a customs officer. But when I was in Accra, people were lined up being tested,” he said.

Expressing shock at what he witnessed at the KIA, he said, “Now, if that’s a third world country doing this then I’m very shocked. I would have expected more in Heathrow.”

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo last week expressed his satisfaction with the measures the government has instituted to deal with the threat of the novel Coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

The President visited the Kotoka International Airport, the Tema General Hospital and the Greater Accra Regional Hospital (Ridge) to assess the country’s preparedness for the disease.

Ghana has so far committed GH¢2.5 million for any eventuality; an amount the World Health Organisation says is inadequate.

But the Minister of Health on March 4 said his outfit was set to receive an additional GH¢11 million to help it prepare and contain an outbreak of the novel coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, should it surface in the country.

Audio of the BBC interview attached below