|
 Under rules in place at the time, more than 600 passengers were able
to board the KLM airline flights from Johannesburg and Cape Town
with either proof of vaccination or recent negative COVID-19 test
results.
A spokesman for the health authority for Kennemerland, in which
Schiphol airport is situated, said "around 90%" of those that tested
positive had been vaccinated. KLM did not keep track of how
individual passengers had met their preflight health requirements.
"By a combination of requiring tests before departure ... and
retesting five days after arrival, and knowing what happened, you
can make flight safer," said Jaap van Dissel, the head of infectious
diseases at the Dutch Institute for Health (RIVM), in testimony to
parliament on Wednesday. He also recommended quarantine for
travellers from high-risk areas.
The RIVM's advice, not yet adopted by the Dutch government, is that
only a PCR test taken 48 hours before arrival in the Netherlands be
accepted, and that it be required regardless of vaccination status.
Countries around the world are sharpening flight rules after the
discovery of the Omicron variant of the virus, dubbed a "variant of
concern" by the World Health Organization, due to worries it could
resist vaccinations and prolong the COVID-19 pandemic.
[to top of second column] |
 The Dutch government has said
it is considering the RIVM's reommendations but
it wants any decision to be made at the EU
level. France, Portugal and Ireland have already
adopted similar policies
https://www.reuters.com/business/
aerospace-defense/global-airlines-prepare-omicron-induced-volatility-2021-12-01.
Health authorities in Kennemerland also said on
Thursday they were releasing more than half of
the infected passengers, who had been kept in
isolation at a hotel near the airport, after
subsequent tests showed they were no longer
carrying the virus.
The authorities did not say whether any of the
14 passengers that were found to be infected
with the Omicron variant of the virus were being
released, citing privacy reasons.
"Persons that tested positive (a second time)
will remain in isolation. Their situation varies
... some have symptoms, others don't or barely,"
Kennemerland health director Bert van Velden
said.
(Reporting by Toby SterlingEditing by John
Stonestreet, David Goodman and Nick Macfie)
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