More than 61 Covid-19 cases have been detected among passengers on a flight from South Africa to Amsterdam, prompting testing to determine if any patients are infected with the Omicron variant.
Dutch health authorities discovered the 61 cases on two flights on Friday, among around 600 passengers who arrived at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport.
The flights arrived before the Dutch government halted air traffic from southern Africa due to concerns over the variant.
Passengers from the two flights were kept separated from other travellers and those that tested positive are being kept in isolation at a hotel near the airport.
Some of the cases are likely to be the Omicron variant, health authorities said.
"In a number of the tested persons the Omicron variant is presumed to have been found," the Netherlands Institute for Health (RIVM) said in a statement. A spokesperson for the RIVM said it was "almost certain" the cases were of the new variant but further testing is needed.
It comes as the Netherlands' Health Minister Hugo de Jonge yesterday announced that the country would effectively lock down at night for three weeks.
Non-essential shops, restaurants, bars and cultural venues would have to close from 5pm to 5am, though supermarkets can stay open until 8pm.
Face coverings will be mandatory for many students and teachers, and social distancing will be mandatory in all public places, Politico reported.
In a press conference, Hugo de Jonge said: “The number of positive test results reported over recent weeks is extremely high,” adding that "the hard truth, unfortunately, behind the numbers is that over 70 percent of patients ending up in the intensive care are unvaccinated."
A spokesperson for KLM, the Dutch arm of Air France, said the airline was trying to determine what rules had been in place as of Friday morning to prevent people with Covid-19 infections from boarding the flights, which departed from Cape Town and Johannesburg.
Rules on the company's website said passengers had to present a negative Covid-19 "rapid antigen" test result taken 24 hours before departure.
However, they had not been required to show proof of vaccination.
A spokesperson for the health authorities in Kennemerland, the Dutch region that oversees Schiphol, said the positive cases were being analysed by the National Institute for Health (RIVM).
Meanwhile, passengers on the two KLM flights said they were kept waiting on the tarmac for hours.
"Vigorous applause because there is a BUS that has come to take us ... somewhere," tweeted New York Times journalist Stephanie Nolen, a passenger on the flight from Johannesburg, during the long wait on Friday.
"Bus to a hall to a huge queue. I can see Covid testers in bright blue PPE far on the distance. Still no snacks for the sad babies," she added in a second tweet.
On Saturday, Nolan tweeted that she tested negative and was awaiting a further flight to Canada. Passengers remaining in the Netherlands are required to quarantine at home for 5 days.
The new variant has been detected just as many European countries are grappling with a surge in coronavirus cases.
Meanwhile, the first cases of the new Omicron Covid variant have been found in the UK.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid this afternoon confirmed that two people - one in Chelmsford and one in Nottingham - had tested positive for the strain.
Mr Javid said steps including surge testing would be carried out to protect the public from the "emerging threat", and again called on people to get vaccinated.
The World Health Organisation warned evidence suggests the variant, labelled Omicron in its Greek alphabet naming convention, has an increased risk of re-infection and may spread more rapidly.
The variant should have been called Nu but the WHO believes that would be confused with the word “new”, so used the next letter – omicron.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid , in an urgent statement in the Commons, told the public: “If you’ve arrived from any of these countries in the last 10 days, NHS Test and Trace will be asking you to take a PCR test.
“But please don’t wait to be contacted. You should take PCR tests right away.”
He added: “It is highly likely it has spread to other countries. We are concerned this variant may pose substantial risk to public health.”
Almost 10,000 people have arrived from South Africa in the past two weeks. Around 100 cases of Omicron had been found by genetic sequencing in South Africa, Botswana, Hong Kong and Israel. The European Commission has recommended an EU-wide travel ban to and from southern Africa.
The UK yesterday halted flights from six countries: South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho and Swaziland.
Four more countries - Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Angola - will be added to the UK's red travel list from 4am tomorrow, it was announced.
