Quarantine hotel escapees arrested in Netherlands as Europe enforces new covid measures

The married couple, a Portuguese woman and a Spanish man, were arrested Sunday evening at Schiphol airport in Amsterdam, moments before their flight was scheduled to depart for Spain. The couple has since been placed in isolation in a hospital, according to De Telegraaf, a Dutch newspaper.

The man and the woman, whose names were not released, had arrived to the Netherlands on a flight from South Africa and at least one of them tested positive for the coronavirus after landing at Schiphol airport. They were placed in isolation in a hotel along with travelers from southern Africa.

They left the hotel where they were -isolating at around 6 p.m. Sunday. Security guards alerted the Marechaussee, one of Netherlands’s national police forces, according to the Guardian. The couple was arrested on the plane “almost silently and without violence,” a Marechaussee spokesman said.

The Netherlands has tightened coronavirus restrictions in response to the spread of the omicron variant. Recreational venues such as bars, museums, cinemas and cafes, must close by 5 p.m. for the next three weeks, according to the Guardian.

South Africa’s scientists confirmed Thursday that they had detected a new variant with a high number of mutations, which raised concern among experts. The World Health Organization dubbed it omicron and designated it “a variant of concern.” A number of countries imposed restrictions on travel from countries in southern Africa.