Infected and recently flown? The GGD finds out which 24 people were around you

The cautious increase in air traffic at Schiphol also makes it possible to ‘import’ corona infections. In June and the first half of July, 45 aircraft landed at Schiphol, Eindhoven Airport and Rotterdam The Hague Airport, and it was determined that at least one of the passengers was infected with the corona virus. Five questions on this topic.

1 What do we know so far about the infected travelers?

The majority of the 45 infections come from the number of flights that landed at Schiphol: 38. The GGD Kennemerland, which includes Schiphol, announced this on Friday.

This GGD will be notified when someone in the Netherlands is diagnosed as infected and has developed complaints within two days of his or her arrival at Schiphol, a spokesperson explains. The GGD Kennemerland can then contribute to the contact investigation, for example by requesting the passenger list from KLM.

The flights concerned have not been announced. It is also not entirely certain whether the infected persons were already infected on the plane. “In principle, it could also have happened while you fries on the way home from the airport,” said the GGD spokesman.

The same procedure applies in Eindhoven and Rotterdam. The first airport had a total of six flights of which a passenger was later found to be infected, Rotterdam one.

Also read this piece about flying during corona: With a mask on the middle seat

2 Is at least 45 infections much or just little?

For Schiphol, 38 registered infections appear to be relatively few, compared to the total number of passengers. For example, in June the airport processed 471,000 travelers, spread over just over 5,500 flight movements (by comparison: in June 2019 there were still 6.5 million travelers at Schiphol). The number of travelers in July has not yet been announced.

Rotterdam processed 9,545 travelers in June. Eindhoven has not yet published comparable figures.

3 What happens to the passengers who were on the plane close to the infected passenger?

As mentioned, the GGD Kenemmerland conducts a contact investigation with the passenger list when it appears that a passenger traveling to Schiphol was infected. The question is: who were around the infected person? This concerns a maximum of 24 passengers. These people are contacted and requested to be quarantined for two weeks. If someone is now abroad, because it was a transfer passenger, for example, the GGD will contact the foreign health service.

In the 38 flights to Schiphol where an infection was subsequently discovered, between one and seventeen passengers were approached per infected passenger. The GGD spokesman cannot confirm that they have all been found to be uncontaminated so far, as some media reports said Friday.

4 What control is there on travelers from risk countries?

GGD teams are present at Schiphol to receive travelers from ‘orange’ countries at the gate. In any case, this includes all countries outside the European Union (minus the United Kingdom). These passengers are urged to quarantine for two weeks, although on a voluntary basis. They must also show the health certificate they had to fill in before departure.

Schiphol currently has relatively few flights from orange countries, such as the United States, Turkey or Belarus: this usually involves several dozen aircraft per day. Whoever arrives from a ‘yellow’ country – most of the EU – will receive no additional checks. Travelers do not have to be quarantined for two weeks.

Also read this report from Schiphol: Rather on the plane than in a full bus

5 Does Schiphol’s sewage water show many corona traces?

The water research institute KWR has been researching the traces of corona in sewage since February: the faeces often contain virus particles in people who are infected. On July 15, the institute reported that concentrations at Schiphol had risen for the second week in a row after they had been undetectably small for some time. At a number of other test locations in the Netherlands, KWR measured a decline that stagnated, or a slight increase. The airport now has the highest concentration of the nine places in the Netherlands where KWR measures, although the difference with the rest of the Netherlands is not alarming.

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