COVID-19: US eases travel restrictions on Ghana

The US has eased travel restrictions for Ghana to Level 1 from Level 2 indicating a low level of COVID-19 in the country.

The US public health agency, the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) in its updated criteria on Monday urged all visitors from the US to Ghana to ensure that they are fully vaccinated.

"Travelers should follow recommendations or requirements in Ghana, including wearing a mask and staying 6 feet apart from others," the update reads.

Ghana as of May 8, 2021, had 1,519 active cases of COVID-19 and its national vaccination programme had vaccinated 852,047 persons.

It will be recalled that Ghana was de-escalated to Level 2 from Level 3 in May which indicated "a reduction in COVID-19 concerns from high to moderate".

The CDC said it had updated its criteria to "better differentiate countries with severe outbreak situations from countries with sustained, but controlled, Covid-19 spread."

Its new criteria for a Level 4 "avoid all travel" recommendation has changed from 100 cases per 100,000 to 500 cases per 100,000.

Other countries listed at Level 1 are; Rwanda, Benin, Nigeria, Togo, Israel, Chad, Morocco, Zimbabwe and Morocco.

The update also saw an additional 49 countries and territories (including Ghana) lowered to “Level 2” or “Level 1”.

Countries such as France, Spain and Italy are now Level 3, which means only fully vaccinated passengers may go to these areas.