Crowding at Schiphol Airport reported as RIVM records 3 more Covid-19 deaths
Public health agency RIVM said that three more people died on Wednesday from Covid-19. It means the Netherlands has lost 6,081 people to the coronavirus disease. Eleven more hospitalizations were also linked to the coronavirus disease, most of which took place in the past week, but some dating as far back as March.
Since the end of February, 11,846 people have been hospitalized, and 49,426 in total have tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The latter showed an increase of 116, the RIVM said on Friday.
Meanwhile, there was some concern about crowding at Schiphol Airport on Friday after journalist Sander Schimmelpenninck posted a photo on Twiter showing airline passengers bunching up at a security checkpoint. The airport defended itself, noting that people there are required to wear masks, adding, "We have prepared the airport as well as possible. For example, by reminding travelers in many places about 1.5m distance via broadcasting, stickers and screens."
Jaja, @Schiphol is er weer helemaal klaar voor. Hartelijk welkom voor dappere reizigers met een uur wachten voor checkin. Belachelijk pic.twitter.com/pl68tzMo95
— Sander Schimmelpenninck (@SanderSchimmelp) June 19, 2020
However Schimmelpenninck disagreed, saying that there were far too few people manning the security checkpoint, which was a key cause of the crowding. He said the situation at the airport was an example of them being "cheap and understaffed."
The journalist was also critical of passengers ignoring the 1.5-meter distancing.
Travel within Europe began to open up on June 15 as more countries within the Schengen Area dropped some of their border restrictions. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also reduced the travel warnings for many of these countries, advising people to be cautious when visiting those nations, follow their rules with regard to Covid-19, and to also follow the rules that the Netherlands has in place.
Last week, Prime Minister Mark Rutte confirmed that the public would have to wear face masks at Dutch airports and on passenger planes. He also said that the Dutch Cabinet had no intention to force airliners to limit the number of passengers on their aircraft.