Coronavirus: Omicron was in Netherlands before South Africa raised alarm about new coronavirus variant - Perry Stein

The omicron variant had a foothold in multiple countries in Europe before travel restrictions were imposed, new genetic sequencing data has revealed.

Dutch officials said Tuesday that they had detected the variant, with its unusually high number of mutations, in a sample collected on Nov. 19 and another on Nov. 23 — well before Dutch authorities panicked over two flights from South Africa carrying infected passengers.

The earliest known cases are still from southern Africa. The first identified samples were collected Nov. 9, from a 34-year-old man and a 23-year-old man in Johannesburg, according to the GISAID global database. On Nov. 11, five

Read more at: Omicron was in Netherlands before South Africa raised alarm about new coronavirus variant - The Washington Post

Netherlands Finds 61 Covid Cases on South Africa Flights - by Claire Moses

Some 61 passengers arriving in two flights from South Africa tested positive for Coronavirus and were quaranteed in the Netherlands.

Read more at: Netherlands Finds 61 Covid Cases on South Africa Flights - The New York Times

The Netherlands bans flights from UK, S-Africa, S-America, plans to introduce curfew – by Eline Schaart

The Dutch government announced Wednesday that it will ban flights from the U.K., South Africa and South America as of Saturday in an effort to prevent more virulent strains of the coronavirus from taking hold across the country.

The new restrictions also mean everyone flying to the Netherlands will need to take a rapid antigen test, on top of the already existing requirement for a PCR-test conducted within 72 hours of departure."We're getting out of this, but first we have to brace ourselves again now that more contagious variants are coming our way,” caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte said.

Rutte also announced plans to impose a curfew from 8:30 p.m. to 4:30 a.m. However, the government needs the support of a majority of MPs to implement the curfew given that the Cabinet is in caretaker mode after resigning last week. Opposition parties have been critical of a curfew, but local media reported that the GreenLeft and Labor parties are now leaning toward supporting the government line.

Read more at: The Netherlands bans flights from UK, plans to introduce curfew – POLITICO

Netherlands: Dutch legislators want Suriname President Bouterse, a convicted cocaine trafficker, arrested while at Mandela funeral

Suriname President Desi Bouterse

Legislators in the Netherlands have called for the government to state whether it will be making an attempt to have Suriname President Desi Bouterse arrested while he is in South Africa attending the funeral of Nelson Mandela on Sunday.

There have also been calls from an anti-Bouterse movement for the amnesty law that could provide a pardon for his role in the murders of 15 citizens in 1982 to be rescinded.

The legislators have asked the Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and the Foreign Minister to indicate whether the government was willing to request South Africa to arrest Bouterse and extradite him to the Netherlands to serve his jail term on cocaine trafficking charges.

Bouterse was convicted in absentia in 1999 and given an 11-year jail term.

He has consistently denied involvement in cocaine trafficking and managed to evade arrest and prison time by not travelling internationally until he became President in 2010.

Bouterse is the only head of state in the world who has been democratically elected  by a majority of the population, even though this majority was aware that he had a criminal record before they elected him. 

Obviously this does not bode too well for the image of Suriname as a whole and the quality of International laws which concern diplomatic immunity for heads of state who have criminal records.

EU-Digest