The two arrested people have been handed over to the GGD. The GGD has taken the couple to an isolation location in a hospital in the region. The Public Prosecution Service will investigate whether evading the obligation of quarantine is punishable.
New contagious variant
A total of 61 passengers who arrived at Schiphol from South Africa on Friday were tested positive for corona by the GGD. The omikron variant of the coronavirus has so far been found in 13 of them. These people were immediately quarantined, most of them in a hotel in Badhoevedorp.
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Or the couple that has fled from the hotel had the new variant is unknown. It is also unknown how they got through passport control and where they wanted to go.
Much more contagious
Since it is known that the omikron variant, which first appeared in southern Africa, has also appeared in the Netherlands, it is all hands on deck. The variant is said to be much more contagious than the earlier variants.
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Security and police are now guarding the hotel where the positively tested travelers from South Africa are in isolation. Private security officers at the hotel ensure that the guests who have to remain in isolation also adhere to this, says a spokesperson for the Kennemerland Safety Region.
Outside the police and Marechaussee ensure that no one enters the hotel who has no business there and they arrange that other guests can enter and leave the hotel undisturbed. “The security is there for a reason,” said the spokesperson when asked whether they should already take action to keep travelers who tested positive in their rooms.
Danger to public health
Travelers are initially asked to adhere to the isolation rules, only if they do not, an obligation is imposed. The surveillance was established in consultation with the Public Prosecution Service (OM) and the GGD, which must indicate that there is a danger to public health.
The Security Region cannot say how many of the infected travelers from South Africa are still in the hotel, but outgoing minister Hugo de Jonge (Public Health) said this afternoon that ‘a large part’ of the infected passengers still stay in the hotel.
Security will also remain there as long as guests are in isolation in the hotel, the Security Region says. Someone can only go home and remain in isolation there if there is ‘protected transport’.
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