The Netherlands: Dutch say 14 air passengers from S. Africa with Omicron were vaccinated - by Toby Sterling

Dutch health authorities on Thursday said most of the 62 people who tested positive for COVID-19 after arriving on two flights from South Africa last week had been vaccinated, lending weight to a call for pre-flight testing regardless of vaccination status.

In addition, all 14 passengers who were later found to have been infected with the Omicron variant were vaccinated, health officials said on Thursday.

Read more at: Dutch say 14 air passengers from S. Africa with Omicron were vaccinated | Reuters

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

Coronavirus: Big Pharma can’t be trusted to solve coronavirus - by Nick Dearden

People might think that pandemics are great levellers: in a crisis, no matter how rich you are, you are as likely to die from a contagious disease as anyone else.But this is far from true, and while deadly diseases are of course a major worry for us all, the impact on those who are poorer is much heavier.

Fead more at: https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2020/3/10/big-pharma-cant-be-trusted-to-solve-coronavirus

COVID in Europe: Netherlands closes all non-essential businesses at 5pm

COVID-19 cases are on the rise again in various parts of Europe as the cold weather has affected the spread of the virus.

Countries on the Old Continent are attempting to curb the spike through various means - from a national lockdown in Austria, to limiting access to certain services elsewhere or pushing for an increase in vaccination rates.

Around 60% of people in Western Europe are fully immunised against COVID-19, but only about half as many are vaccinated in Eastern Europe.

Read more at: https://www.euronews.com/2021/11/26/covid-19-spike-felt-across-europe-as-vaccination-remains-stagnant

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: Here's what lessons can be learned from parenting in the Netherlands - by Vicky McKeever

hildren in the Netherlands are among the happiest in the world, research has suggested, and experts say that there could be a number of reasons why this is the case.

A UNICEF report published last year found that children in the Netherlands had the highest sense of wellbeing. The United Nations children’s agency analyzed data across 41 high-income countries, ranking the countries according to how they scored on children’s mental wellbeing, physical health, and the development of both academic and social skills.

Read more at: Here's what lessons can be learned from parenting in the Netherlands

The Netherlands: Dutch COVID-19 patients transferred to Germany as Dutch hospitals struggle

The Netherlands started transporting COVID-19 patients across the border to Germany on Tuesday to ease pressure on Dutch hospitals, which are scaling back regular care to deal with a surge in coronavirus cases.

A patient was transferred by ambulance from Rotterdam to a hospital in Bochum, some 240 km (150 miles) east, on Tuesday morning, and another would follow later in the day, health authorities said.

Read more at: Dutch COVID-19 patients transferred to Germany as hospitals struggle | Reuters