A history of health screening at Freetown airport

Ebola exit screening, 2014 to 2015

The ministries of health of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone invited CDC, WHO and other partners to help with exit screening in 2014, according to a CDC report published on 12 December 2014 ¹. CDC deployed staff to Sierra Leone beginning 9 August 2014 to advise on exit screening and border controls ¹. CDC worked with ministries of health and airport authorities ¹.

The report said WHO recommends a health questionnaire, a temperature check and, for anyone with fever, an assessment of whether Ebola could be the cause ¹. Ill travellers and those reporting a high risk of exposure were denied boarding ¹. About 80,000 travellers left the three countries by air from August to October 2014 ¹. CDC said none of those denied boarding was reported to have Ebola, and none of those allowed to fly was known to have had symptoms during travel ¹. The report gives no figures for Sierra Leone alone ¹.

WHO declared Sierra Leone free of Ebola virus transmission on 7 November 2015, 42 days after the last known patient left a treatment unit, CDC said ².

COVID-19 rules from July 2020

Lungi airport was due to reopen on Wednesday 22 July 2020 after four months closed, as reported by Abdul Rashid Thomas for The Sierra Leone Telegraph ⁴. The government advisory for the reopening was issued by the Ministry of Transport and Aviation with the Ministry of Health and Sanitation, the Civil Aviation Authority, the Airports Authority and the National COVID-19 Emergency Response Centre ³.

Arriving passengers needed a negative PCR result issued no more than 72 hours before departure ³. On arrival each passenger had a PCR swab and a rapid test ³. Passengers paid for arrival testing through the government travel portal, travel.gov.sl ³. A passenger with a positive rapid test was isolated at a hotel in Lungi at their own cost ³. Departing passengers needed a negative PCR test issued no more than 72 hours before departure, booked and paid for through the same portal ³. Children under 2 and airline crew were exempt from the PCR rules ³. The advisory did not state fee amounts ³.

Complaints about testing at Lungi

On 3 August 2020 The Sierra Leone Telegraph, as reported by Abdul Rashid Thomas, said arriving passengers were asked to pay $80 for a COVID-19 test that the paper said did not exist ⁵. It said passengers who landed the previous Thursday paid for PCR tests they never received and were told to self-isolate at home ⁵. The Civil Aviation Authority Director General, Moses Tiffa Baio, was quoted saying rapid test kits were not available at the airport due to delays in procurement, and he apologised ⁵. The report did not mention refunds ⁵.

On 10 January 2022 the same paper reported claims that rogue officials in Freetown were asking passengers to pay for PCR tests, and that some passengers received false positive results and were told to pay for another test ⁷. These are press reports. We did not find an official finding on them.

Testing rules in 2021

A set of travel FAQs updated on 10 June 2021, which refers throughout to the National COVID-19 Emergency Response Centre, said one departure test cost SLL500,000 and a premium service in the Western Area cost SLL700,000 ⁶. It did not state the arrival test amount ⁶.

• Departing travellers registered on the portal, paid by mobile money and took a PCR test no more than 72 hours before departure ⁶.
• Children under 5 and travellers who had flown in less than five days earlier were exempt from the departure test ⁶.
• Vaccinated travellers still had to be tested ⁶.
• Fully vaccinated arrivals from high-risk countries had to quarantine only until their airport PCR result came back ⁶.
• Travellers from high-risk countries quarantined for at least 8 days ⁶.
• Support was on 117 or [email protected] ⁶.

Screening in 2026

The UK government says all travellers entering or leaving Sierra Leone must complete a health declaration before travel and may have to undergo health screening on arrival ⁹. It says Sierra Leone has introduced screening for arriving travellers after WHO declared an Ebola outbreak a public health emergency of international concern ⁹. Ireland says no cases or suspected cases from the 2026 outbreak have been reported in Sierra Leone, and lists hand sanitising and temperature screening at Lungi airport ¹⁰. Australia says temperature screening on arrival was introduced due to an increase in Mpox cases ⁸. The full current rules are on our health entry requirements page.