Reuters found 61 COVID cases among South African passengers for the new test variant in the Netherlands

By Toby Sterling and Bart H. Meijer

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Dutch health authorities said on Saturday they had detected 61 COVID-19 cases among people who had flown from South Africa on Friday and were now conducting further tests to see if Omicron was infected with the new variant.

The cases were found among 600 passengers who arrived at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam on two flights on Friday, before the Dutch government suspended air traffic in southern Africa due to concerns about the variant.

Dutch health authorities said on Saturday they would try to contact passengers arriving from South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe since Monday and ask them to do a test as soon as possible.

Passengers on Friday’s flight were kept separate from other passengers and those who tested positive are being kept isolated at a hotel near the airport.

A spokesman for the health ministry said it would not be known until Saturday if any of the passengers were infected with the new variant.

A spokesman for KLM, Air France’s Dutch army, said the airline was trying to determine what the rules were so that people with COVID-19 infections could not board flights from Cape Town and Johannesburg on Friday morning.

The company’s website rules said passengers were required to submit a negative COVID-19 “rapid antigen” test 24 hours prior to departure, but did not need to show evidence of the vaccine.

‘RARE BENE’

Dutch photographer Paula Zimmerman, who returned from a family visit to South Africa on Friday morning, said the condition of the passengers on the plane was chaotic as they waited on the asphalt and terminal for hours.

Zimmerman was told he had given a negative at 4 p.m., almost 18 hours after landing in Amsterdam, but said he knew then that he was next to a man who knew he had tested positive for an infection.

“It was really weird. There was no coordination. There were too few people and there really wasn’t anyone taking control.”

The fact that Zimmerman had spent hours on a flight that had many infected passengers made Zimmerman nervous for the next few days, he said.

“They told me they expect a lot more positive people to come out in five days. It’s a little scary to have been on a plane with a lot of people who have tested positive.”

The ban on flights from the Netherlands does not mean that all flights from South Africa to the Netherlands are stopped, as Dutch citizens are allowed to return home, and EU citizens are allowed to enter when they pass through their countries.

Medical staff, airline crews and people with severe needs are also allowed to travel. KLM will continue flights to the region, but passengers must stay for at least five days in quarantine when they arrive in the Netherlands.

https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/what-we-know-about-covid-19-variant-detected-south-africa-2021-11-26 The new variant has been detected in many other European countries coronavirus they are facing a rise in cases.

The Dutch government on Friday announced the closure of https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/netherlands-impose-new-covid-measures-avoid-healthcare-breakdown-2021-11-26 nightclubs, restaurants and most. while the store is trying to break the record for COVID-19 cases that are surpassing its health system.