Dutch Authorities Say 18 Plane Passengers From South Africa Have Tested Positive For The Omicron Variant And Have Been Vaccinated

JAKARTA - Dutch health authorities said on Saturday that the number of passengers on two flights from South Africa last week who had tested positive for the Omicron variant of the corona virus was 18 people.

The Netherlands Institute of Health (RIVM) added in a statement that, following this announcement, the investigation into the two flights had been completed.

Both flights had taken off on November 26, when the Dutch Government introduced new travel restrictions due to concerns about the newly detected Omicron variant.

More than 600 passengers traveling on both flights remain isolated and tested for COVID-19, with 61 testing positive, including 18 who were found to be infected with the Omicron variant.

Those who test positive but have no symptoms will be allowed out of isolation on Saturday. Others have had to stay longer, the institute said.

Earlier, Dutch health authorities on Thursday said most of the 61 people who tested positive for COVID-19 after arriving on two flights from South Africa last week had been vaccinated, giving weight to calls for pre-flight testing regardless of vaccination status.

In addition, about 14 passengers who were later found to be infected with the Omicron variant have also been vaccinated.

Under the rules in effect at the time, more than 600 passengers could board a KLM airline flight from Johannesburg and Cape Town on 26 November with evidence of vaccination or a recent negative COVID-19 test result.

A spokesman for the health authorities for Kennemerland, where Amsterdam's Schiphol airport is located, said "about 90 percent" of those who tested positive had been vaccinated, including those who tested positive for the Omicron variant.

Meanwhile, the infection rate among passengers from South Africa prompted calls from Dutch health authorities for testing to replace vaccination status for flying.

"By a combination of requiring pre-departure testing and retesting five days after arrival, and knowing what happened, you can make flights safer," Jaap van Dissel, RIVM's head of infectious diseases, said in testimony in parliament on Wednesday. He also recommended quarantine for travelers from high-risk areas.

The RIVM advice, which has not been adopted by the Dutch Government is that only PCR tests taken 48 hours prior to arrival in the Netherlands are acceptable, and that they are required, regardless of vaccination status.

To note, countries around the world have tightened aviation regulations after the discovery of the Omicron variant, dubbed the 'attention variant' by the World Health Organization (WHO), for fear it could refuse vaccination and prolong the pandemic.