President Nana Akufo-Addo says airlines which defy the instructions for Polymerized Chain Reaction (PCR) testing passengers for Covid-19 at the airport will face punitive acctions.

In his 19th address to the nation on measures to curb the spread of the global pandemic on Sunday, he said, "The airport authorities will continue to demand that passengers arriving in the country should be in possession of a 72-hour old negative PCR test, and we will continue to sanction airlines that flout this directive."

"With the imposition of stringent testing measures at the airport, we have, so far, been able to detect 172 positive cases amongst some 54,000 arriving international passengers."

The President said officials of the Ghana Health Service will would intensify the follow-up process of disembarking international passengers, even when they had tested negative.

According to him, this is to help ensure the country has ruled out every possibility of someone catching the virus either during departure or arrival proceedings.

"In the area of testing, I have tasked the Ministry of Health, through the Ghana Health Service (GHS), to liaise with all laboratories and testing facilities across the country to ensure that reporting procedures are ironed out and adhered to," he said.

"In as much as our hospitalisation rates are very low, care for the sick and the provision of treatment remain an important aspect of our strategy," he said.

To this end, President Akufo-Addo said the 100-bed Ghana Infectious Diseases Centre at the Ga East Hospital, would be opened to the public in the coming days, under the management of the GHS.

The President said the provision of adequate medicines, equipment, and personal protective equipment to enable health workers attend to home-based patients had also been guaranteed.

He said government, in trying to mitigate against the effects of the pandemic, had put in place a number of measures to cushion ordinary Ghanaians and businesses.