Netherlands to test 5-day quarantine on flights from Atlanta

Some passengers flying from Atlanta to Amsterdam will be given the chance to take part in a new pilot program which would reduce the time they are told to self-isolate on arrival to just five days. Current Dutch rules call for passengers arriving from the U.S., and other countries grappling with the coronavirus pandemic, to self-isolate for ten days.

The three-week test will begin on December 15 for passengers on four weekly flights, two with KLM and two with Delta. Participation will be voluntary. It requires passengers to produce a negative result for Covid-19 before boarding.

They will then take a new test five days later at a commercial test facility at Schiphol or elsewhere in the Netherlands, provided they followed the quarantine rules. "If the second test is negative, the quarantine is over immediately after that result, provided the period of five days has passed," the Ministries of Health and Infrastructure said in a statement.

"All other entry conditions for travelers from high-risk areas, including the U.S., remain in full force," the ministries said. Anyone arriving from Atlanta, but not participating in the pilot, will be told to quarantine for ten days, as will passengers arriving in the EU from other high-risk areas. They emphasized that the current Dutch travel advice has not been relaxed, and neither has the EU entry ban.

For the most part, travel from areas designated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Code Orange because of the coronavirus pandemic is only permitted for urgent trips. The government also has created many exemptions to this rule.