Many on African airlines think they have COVID in the Netherlands | Coronavirus Plague News

Dutch health officials say they have found 61 people with COVID-19 among the people who flew from South Africa and say they believe the disease is a new type of omicron.

In a statement on Saturday, the Dutch Health Authority (GDD) said the charges were found among the 624 people who arrived at Schiphol’s Amsterdam airport on two flights on Friday.

This was the case before the Dutch government began banning flights from southern Africa because of concerns about these differences.

“We know that 61 results were positive and 531 [were] bad, ”GDD said.

A spokesman for the National Institute for Public Health (RVIM) meanwhile said the agency was “convinced” that the cases were of a new nature, but said further testing needed to be made.

The results are expected to be unveiled on Sunday.

Those who were diagnosed with the virus are now being kept in solitary confinement at a hotel near the airport.

A spokesman for KLM, the Dutch arm of Air France, said the passengers of the plane were found to be uninfected or showed evidence of vaccination before boarding flights to Cape Town and Johannesburg.

“It goes so far as to say we are shocked” by the number of cases, KLM said. “But we have no explanation.”

The spokesman said it was possible that most of those infected were already vaccinated, or that many people became infected when they were found to be HIV negative.

Dutch health officials want to connect with another 5,000 people from South Africa, Botswana, Swaziland, formerly known as Swaziland, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia or Zimbabwe from Monday to encourage them to test COVID-19 as soon as possible. .

‘It’s a little scary’

Paula Zimmerman, a Dutch artist who returned from a family trip to South Africa on Friday morning, said what happened to the passengers was disrupted, as they waited on the tar and at the airport for hours.

Zimmerman was told that he had tested 4 a.m. in the morning, about 18 hours after arriving in Amsterdam. But she was found standing next to a man who was diagnosed with HIV.

“It was amazing. There was no connection. There were very few people, and nobody was in control. ”

Having spent hours on a plane that was probably heavily infected with the virus made Zimmerman worry about the days to come, he said.

“I have been told that he expects more people to get tested in five days. It is a little dangerous, the idea that you have been on a plane with a lot of people who have been infected with the virus.”

New York Times correspondent Stephanie Nolen also wrote about her experience with the so-called “Dystopia Central Airline Hallway”.

He described how the riders, including infants and toddlers, were forced to wait for testing, while “30 percent of the population did not wear a mask or a mouth”.

Dutch citizens are allowed to return home from southern Africa, while European Union citizens are allowed to enter their countries.

Medical personnel, airmen and people with special needs are also allowed to travel. KLM will continue its field trips, but all travelers must test their HIV status before departure and then settle for at least five days after arriving in the Netherlands.

This new trend has been noted as more and more European countries are battling the spread of coronavirus cases.

The Dutch government on Friday announced a night closure of bars, restaurants and many bars, as it tries to address the problem of COVID-19 which is disrupting its health system.