Dutch health officials say 61 COVID-19 cases were detected in people who flew from South Africa on Friday, Reuters report.
The cases were detected on two KLM Royal Dutch Airlines flights from Cape Town and Johannesburg, South Africa to the Netherlands. Both flights were held on the tarmac for hours after landing at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.
Dutch officials are conducting additional testing to see if the passengers who tested positive for COVID-19 have the new omicron variant, which has been spreading in South Africa, Reuters reported.
Cases of the the omicron variant were previously detected in South Africa, Botswana, Hong Kong, and Belgium.
Omicron was designated a ‘variant of concern‘ by the World Health Organization. It has more than 30 mutations to the spike protein that allows the virus to bind to human cells. Further research is being done to determine if these mutations makes the virus more transmissible and causes more severe illness or possibly death, even in the vaccinated.
The United States will restrict travel for non-U.S. citizens from South Africa and seven other countries starting Monday, to stem the spread of the omicron variant of Covid-19.
In addition to South Africa, other countries included in the new restrictions are Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi.
“I’ve decided we’re going to be cautious,” Biden told reporters on Friday. “We don’t know a lot about the variant except it is a great concern, seems to spread rapidly,” he said.
