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28
November

The only KLM plane to arrive in Amsterdam from Johannesbourg on Saturday (Photo: ANP/AFP/Sem van der Wal) - 

 

Relieved passengers on a flight from South Africa streamed into Amsterdam's Schiphol airport Saturday (Nov 27), in stark contrast to the previous day when fears about a new COVID-19 variant sparked chaos.

Smiling relatives waiting with balloons and flowers greeted travellers from KLM's only flight from Johannesburg, who reached the Netherlands despite a growing international shutdown to curb the new omicron strain.

The mood was very different the previous day, when passengers aboard two flights spent hours mired at Schiphol while tests revealed that 61 out of the 600 passengers had coronavirus, with some possibly having the new Omicron strain which has governments worldwide worried.

"We were scared of having to go back into quarantine," said Mariam van der Veen, an air hostess who was on holiday in South Africa with her husband Alexander.

"The funny thing is ... nobody said anything to us," a visibly relieved Van der Veen, 58, told AFP.

Her husband added: "We heard there was a new variant and maybe it would be impossible to go back after the weekend. So we decided not to wait (in South Africa) under these circumstances and booked a flight home."

In all 161 people made it back Saturday aboard the sole KLM flight from Johannesburg, blending seamlessly with other arrivals from Istanbul and Atlanta as they plucked luggage from the conveyor belts.

 

At least 107 other passengers were stopped from boarding as they did not comply with new Dutch government rules hastily announced on Friday.

 

These bar entry to all passengers from southern African countries except for Dutch and EU residents who can show a negative Covid test taken within 24 hours of boarding the plane.

 

"Each person is dealing with an individual situation. We cannot say when these people will be able to return," KLM spokesman Remco Rous told AFP.

 

Since the emergence of the new strain, one country after another has banned flights from southern Africa in what New York Times global health reporter Stephanie Nolen - who was on one of the flights to Schiphol -- termed "variant panic."

 

On Friday passengers arriving at Schiphol had to endure hours of waiting - first on the plane and then in a cramped arrival hall "were people were breathing on each other" and many people failed to wear face masks, Nolen tweeted.

Dutch health authorities said on Saturday that some of the 61 who tested Covid positive and are now in hotel quarantine "probably" had the new variant.

"This was an extraordinary situation, unique, because the measures changed while people were on the plane," said Stefan Donker, spokesman for Schiphol.

"Coronavirus is something unexpected and it proves to be always more unexpected," he told AFP.

While passengers who missed connecting flights because of Friday evening's hold-up were fuming, those arriving on Saturday had a much smoother transit -- and those whose destination was the Netherlands were hugely relieved//CNA

 

 

28
November

FILE PHOTO: Tourists enjoy on the beach as mobile coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccination points have been installed by Spain's Valencia Health Ministry in Benidorm, Spain, November 17, 2021. REUTERS/Eva Manez - 

 

British tourists will be admitted to Spain from next month only if they can show proof of a COVID-19 vaccination, according to a Spanish government bulletin published on Saturday (Nov 27) as the country tightened travel restrictions amid concern about the new Omicron coronavirus variant.

Until now, Britons were admitted to Spain if they could show proof they had been fully vaccinated against coronavirus or a negative PCR test result taken up to 72 hours before arriving.

"The appearance of new variants causing (coronavirus) obliges an increase in restrictions," with regard to people from the UK and Northern Ireland, said the announcement in the Bulletin of State.

The new measure comes into force from Wednesday, Dec 1.

"This will affect British residents but not British people who are resident in Spain," a spokeswoman for Spain's Industry, Trade and Tourism said.

About 300,000 Britons have residency in Spain, making it the largest group of UK citizens in Europe outside Britain.

Spain restricted flights from South Africa and Botswana on Friday following similar decisions by other European governments//CNA

28
November

People queue outside a vaccination centre as the spread of COVID-19 continues in Frankfurt, Germany, Nov 22, 2021. (File photo: Reuters/Kai Pfaffenbach) - 

 

The Omicron variant of COVID-19 has probably arrived in Germany, a minister in the western state of Hesse said on Saturday (Nov 27) after mutations were found in a passenger arriving from South Africa.

"Last night several Omicron-typical mutations were found in a traveller returning from South Africa," tweeted Kai Klose, social affairs minister in Hesse, home to Frankfurt airport, Germany's biggest hub and one of Europe's busiest airports.

He added that a full sequencing of the variant was being carried out and that the person was isolating, and he urged anyone who had travelled from South Africa in the last few weeks to limit contacts and get tested.

The new variant has been found at a time when Germany and many other European countries are grappling with a surge in coronavirus cases.

Germany recorded 67,125 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases said, and more than 100,000 people have died with COVID-19.

Germany is declaring South Africa a virus-variant area, meaning airlines are allowed to fly only Germans to Germany from South Africa, a source told Reuters on Friday. Even those who are vaccinated must spend 14 days in quarantine.

Earlier, Dutch health officials said they had detected 61 COVID-19 cases among people who flew from South Africa on Friday and are trying to establish whether any were infected with the Omicron variant//CNA

 

28
November

People line up to get on an overseas flight at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, South Africa on Nov 26, 2021. (File photo: AP/Jerome Delay) - 

 

Australia and several other countries joined nations imposing restrictions on travel from southern Africa on Saturday (Nov 27) after the discovery of a new coronavirus variant called Omicron sparked global concern and triggered a market sell-off.

Meanwhile, authorities in Amsterdam said that 61 out of around 600 people who arrived in the Dutch city on two flights from South Africa on Friday had tested positive for coronavirus. Health authorities were carrying out further tests to see if those cases involved the new variant.

Omicron, dubbed a "variant of concern" by the World Health Organization, is potentially more contagious than previous variants of the disease.

 

It was first discovered in South Africa and has since been detected in Belgium, Botswana, Israel and Hong Kong. A minister in the German state of Hesse said on Saturday that the variant had very probably arrived in Germany, in a traveller returning from South Africa.

 

Financial markets plunged on Friday, especially stocks of airlines and others in the travel sector, as investors worried the variant could cause another surge in the pandemic and stall a global recovery. Oil prices tumbled by about US$10 a barrel.

 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 2.5 per cent, its worst day since late October 2020, and European stocks had their worst day in 17 months.

 

It could take weeks for scientists to fully understand the variant's mutations and whether existing vaccines and treatments are effective against it. Omicron is the fifth variant of concern designated by the WHO.

Although epidemiologists say travel curbs may be too late to stop Omicron from circulating globally, a string of countries including the United States, Brazil, Canada and European Union nations announced travel bans or restrictions from southern Africa on Friday.

 

On Saturday, Australia said it would ban non-citizens who have been in nine southern African countries from entering and will require supervised 14-day quarantines for Australian citizens and their dependents returning from there.

 

Japan said it would extend its tightened border controls to three more African countries after imposing curbs on travel from South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Lesotho on Friday.

 

Sri Lanka, Thailand and Oman also announced travel curbs on southern African nations.

 

Omicron has emerged as many countries in Europe are already battling a surge in COVID-19 infections, and some have re-introduced restrictions on social activity to try to stop the spread.

In Britain, the main opposition Labour Party called on Saturday for a faster booster vaccination programme, saying the gap between the second dose of a vaccination and the booster jab should be cut from six to five months.

"This new variant is a wake-up call," said Labour's junior health spokesman Alex Norris. "The pandemic is not over. We need to urgently bolster our defences to keep the virus at bay."//CNA