The Deputy Ranking Member for the Parliamentary Select Committee on Foreign Affairs has called on the government to take a second look at the cost of the mandatory test for coronavirus at the Kotoka International Airport.
Dr. Alfred Oko Vanderpuije said “the $150 per test is too high. It should be reduced”.
“What test would cost $150? So many places are doing it for free why must you charge such fee for a test?” he wondered.
President Akufo-Addo during his 16th address on Covid-19 stated that Ghana’s international airport would be opened to international flights from Tuesday, September 1, 2020.
The President added that every person who would enter the country would go through a mandatory Covid-19 test.
The Ghana Health Service and the Ministry of Health on Monday announced that every passenger would pay $150 for the test.
Reacting to the issue on Onua FM’s Ghana Dadwene on Monday, August 31, Dr. Oko Vanderpuije said most people will come to the country without money, so it is the responsibility of the government, he told host Nana Yaw Opare, to make the test affordable to everyone.
“We have taken huge monies for Covid-19. Some monies from Parliament, IMF and other funds, so we need to make the test affordable. I am appealing to the president”.
Quality tests
Dr. Vanderpuije said “they have the responsibility to ensure they don’t embarrass our country. If the president says they would be tested in 30 minutes, then they should not embarrass the country with delays”.
“Let us make sure the protocols are there,” he advised. “They should make sure the equipment are also in place”.
“I have trust in the system but we must ensure standards”.
By Kweku Antwi-Otoo|3news.com|Ghana