Netherlands makes negative coronavirus test mandatory for travelers from China

Travelers arriving in the Netherlands from China will need a negative coronavirus test starting next Tuesday. Health Minister Ernst Kuipers decided to order the restriction after other European member states had already taken similar measures. China is in the midst of a major coronavirus outbreak after it recently lifted most of its Covid-19 restrictions.

The Netherlands has also issued urgent advice to wear a medical face mask on board flights to and from China. More testing of the sewage water at Schiphol Airport will also be conducted to monitor the situation.

Kuipers had asked the Eerste Kamer, the upper house of Parliament, to come back from recess so that the senators could urgently deal with a law that would allow the minister to continue to take such measures. But the Senate unanimously decided that Kuipers was putting pressure on the senators, and that an accelerated handling of the law should not be considered. Kuipers wrote in a letter sent on Friday to the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Parliament, that he will now instruct the Kennemerland Security Region to enact the measures, also on behalf of Justice Minister Dilan Yesilgöz. Current law already allows for the situation to be handled in this way. Schiphol Airport is located in that security region. The Netherlands has 25 such regions.

Kuipers had asked the Outbreak Management Team (OMT) and the Social Impact Team (MIT) for advice before announcing the restriction. According to the OMT, it is preferable that measures are aligned across Europe.

However, there is not believed to be an additional threat to the Netherlands, because the population is largely believed to have a built-up immunity against the Omicron variant of the virus. According to research, most Chinese coronavirus patients are infected with some form of Omicron.

The MIT thinks that the social impact of the new measure will be limited, because the measure has no effect on cargo transport. The numbers of airline passengers from China are also limited.