Sierra Leone’s International Airport will reopen to commercial flights effective 22 July 2020 exactly four months after it was closed to all international passenger flights due to the COVID19 pandemic. Some of the initial measures before closure of the airport included travel restrictions and mandatory quarantining of passengers arriving into the country. These measures help to delay importation of the virus until 31 March when Sierra Leone reported its first positive COVID-19 case.

Preparations are now underway and the aviation authorities and partners are in readiness for the commencement of full operations at the Lungi International Airport, the main gateway in and out of Sierra Leone.

Reopening of the airport is part of the recent actions taken by the Sierra Leonean authorities to ease some of the restrictions instituted as part of the COVID-19 response. Schools are now partially opened for examinations candidates, and bans have been lifted on inter-district travel and places of worship but with requirements to observe preventive measures.

“Reopening the country is a welcome development. However, ensuring that all the appropriate public health measures are in place and are fully implemented will help to safeguard lives and prevent further spread of this epidemic”, says Evans Liyosi, WHO Representative in Sierra Leone.

In readiness for the reopening of the Airport, the aviation sector and public health authorities and partners including WHO, IOM, US-CDC, are working closely to mitigate the risk of transmission of the disease among departing or arriving passengers as well as staff and service providers at the facility.  

A new travel advisory issued by the government contains safety and public health guidelines which passengers are required to fully comply with. The guidelines include mandatory laboratory testing for all inbound passengers upon arrival at the airport where a laboratory facility has been set up to facilitate the process. Meanwhile, proof of a negative COVID-19 result issued by the Ministry of Health and Sanitation within 72 hours prior to departure is a requirement for all outbound passengers.  

“WHO is supporting the Ministry of Health and Sanitation to create surge laboratory capacity through the recruitment and training of 30 Laboratory technicians who will be deployed in the airport and other strategic sites to scale up COVID-19 testing capacity”, Mr Liyosi noted.  

Following the training of airport employees and service providers, as well as development of new operating procedures, the airport authority conducted two full-scale field simulation exercises to test the readiness of the facility to manage the flow of passengers, and to detect persons suspected of COVID-19 or other communicable public health conditions. The lessons of this exercise will be helpful in ensuring continued improvement and strategic decisions for the aviation and health authorities in Sierra Leone.

“We were quite impressed by the planning and arrangement in place so far, despite few challenges. What remains is continuous improvement and enforcement of everything that has been instituted as well as a strong system for monitoring of the implementation process. Enforcement and civil adherence to preventive measures are the key drivers of progress in the fight against this pandemic and that is what we are seeing in countries that are now putting the outbreak under control” says Charles Njuguna, Health Security and Emergency Lead at the WHO Country Office in Sierra Leone.

 WHO is working closely with the national authorities and has been providing technical guidance on health and best practices on international travel protocols during the COVID19 pandemic.