Bart H. Meijer and Toby Sterling

AMSTERDAM, (Reuters) – Dutch health officials said Saturday that they have detected 61 cases of COVID-19 among South Africans who arrived in the Netherlands on Friday. They are now testing for Omicron variant infections to determine if any more people may be affected.

They were found among the 600 passengers on the two Amsterdam-based flights that brought them to Schiphol Airport. This was before concerns over the variant caused the Dutch government to stop air traffic from south Africa.

All passengers on board the flight were taken away from any other travelers. Those who had positive tests are now being held at an airport hotel.

According to a spokesperson from the Dutch health ministry, it will not be determined until Saturday whether or not any passengers were infected.

KLM, Air France’s Dutch division, spoke out to say that the airline is trying to find the rules in place to keep people with COVID-19 infection from getting onboard the planes, which depart from Cape Town or Johannesburg.

According to company rules, passengers must present negative COVID-19 “rapid Antigen” results 24 hours prior to departure. However, they are not required to provide proof of vaccination.

The spokesperson for Kennemerland’s health authority, which is the Dutch area that supervises Schiphol said positive cases are being analyzed by the National Institute for Health.

LONG WAIT

KLM passengers who were on two KLM flights claimed that they were held waiting hours on the tarmac.

“Vigorous Applause, because there are a BUS has come to take you… somewhere,” Stephanie Nolen (New York Times journalist), tweeted during Friday’s long wait.

You can get from a bus to the hall and then to the queue. It is possible to see distant COVID test subjects wearing bright blue PPE. She added the following tweet: “Still no snacks for sad babies.”

Nolan sent a tweet on Saturday confirming that her tests were negative, and she was now waiting to board a second flight to Canada. The Netherlands requires that passengers who are still in the country must quarantine for five days.

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

The Dutch government on Friday announced https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/netherlands-impose-new-covid-measures-avoid-healthcare-breakdown-2021-11-26 the nighttime closure of bars, restaurants and most stores as it tries to curb a record-breaking wave of COVID-19 cases that is swamping its healthcare system.