13 Passengers of 61 from Netherlands flight have Omicron variant

Out of 61 Covid positive passengers that landed in the Netherlands on Friday 26 November, 13 are now known to have the new ‘monster’ variant Omicron, first found in South Africa. 

The two KLM flights the people travelled on came from Johannesburg on Friday morning. The passengers who have tested positive have been quarantined near Amsterdam’s Schipol airport while those who tested negative have been asked to self isolate for five days at home and take further tests. 

After announcing the 13 cases on Sunday, the Dutch health minister warned that there could be further cases of the new variant in the country.

It comes as tighter restrictions come into force in the Netherlands, amid record Covid cases and concerns over the new variant.

This includes early closing times for hospitality and cultural venues, and limits on home gatherings.

Omicron was first reported to the World Health Organization by South Africa on Wednesday, and early evidence suggests it has a higher re-infection risk.

As a breaking news story, we will update this as we have further information.

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