13 cases of omicron variant in Dutch testing of travelers

By GEIR MOULSON and ZEN SOO
Associated Press

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The Dutch public health authority says 13 people who arrived in the Netherlands on flights from South Africa on Friday have so far tested positive for the new omicron coronavirus variant. The 61 people who tested positive for the virus on Friday after arriving on the last two flights to Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport before a flight ban was put in place were immediately put into isolation while sequencing was carried out to establish if they had the new variant. The public health institute said testing is continuing on the samples. Israel is barring entry to foreign nationals — the toughest of a raft of curbs around the world as nations scramble to slow the variant’s spread.