Dutch find 61 new cases on South Africa flight, prompting test for Omicron variant

The cases were discovered among around 600 passengers who arrived at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport on two flights on Friday.

Dutch health authorities said on Saturday they had detected 61 COVID-19 cases among people who flew from South Africa on Friday and were now doing further tests to see whether any are infected with the new Omicron variant.

The cases were discovered among around 600 passengers who arrived at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport on two flights on Friday before the Dutch government halted air traffic from southern Africa due to concerns over the variant.

Dutch health authorities said on Saturday they would also seek to contact travelers who had arrived from South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe since Monday and urge them to take a test as soon as possible.

The passengers from Friday’s flights were kept separated from other travelers and those who tested positive are being kept in isolation at a hotel near the airport.

A spokesperson for the health ministry said it would not be known until later Saturday whether any of passengers are infected with the new variant.

A spokesperson for KLM, the Dutch arm of Air France , said the airline was trying to determine what rules were 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 but were not required to show proof of vaccination.

Paula Zimmerman, a Dutch photographer who returned from a family visit in South Africa on Friday morning, said the situation for the passengers on the planes was chaotic, as they were kept waiting on the tarmac and in the terminal for hours.