Airport passenger describes 'chaotic' response to variant

Dutch authorities said 61 people on two flights from South Africa had tested positive for the disease on Friday and that they were doing further tests to see if any of them had the Omicron variant.

Journalist and photographer Paula Zimmerman told Reuters that it had taken almost 18 hours for her to receive the negative result which allowed her to leave Schiphol in the early hours of Saturday (November 27).

"When we arrived at the terminal it was a bit chaotic... Nobody knew what was going to happen and I think they (the health authorities) really didn't know either."

She said she was shocked to find that passengers who had received positive and negative COVID-19 tests were jumbled up as they left the building.