Over 60 people test positive for COVID on two SA-Netherlands flights

At least 61 passengers have tested positive for COVID-19 on two flights arriving in Netherlands from South Africa.

All those who have tested positive have been isolated at a hotel in Amsterdam. It took Dutch authorities hours to test those arriving from South Africa, and out of about 600 passengers, 61 tested positive for the virus.

It isn’t clear whether the passengers are carrying the “highly contagious” Omicron variant. Dutch health officials are busy conducting further tests to determine whether Omicron is among those who arrived.

Netherlands is now set to extend the partial lockdown until mid-December. The partial lockdown restricts businesses and venues from staying open after 5PM local time.

The country had already placed a travel ban on South Africa, but has given a deadline to its citizens to return. Netherlands arranged flights for its nationals, but they weren’t happy with the service they received.

Many said they weren’t even given food or water during the flight. They had waited for hours at the Cape Town airport in South Africa before being able to board their flights.

Their problems didn’t end there as they had to wait in closed spaces after landing, to be screened for COVID, and profiled once testing positive.

The 61 who have tested positive will now spend at least 7 days in quarantine at the hotel if they show symptoms. Five days if they don’t show any symptoms.