61 COVID-19 cases were detected on flights from South Africa to the Netherlands amid concern of new Omicron variant

• 61 COVID-19 cases were detected on flights from South Africa amid concerns of the Omicron variant.
• Two KLM Royal Dutch Airlines flights from South Africa were held at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.

Dutch officials confirmed 61 COVID-19 cases from passengers on flights from South Africa as countries attempt to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 variant B.1.1.529, called the "Omicron" variant.

The cases were detected after two KLM Royal Dutch Airlines flights from South Africa to the Netherlands were held on the tarmac for hours after touching down at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Insider's Thomas Pallini reported. The two flights from Cape Town and Johannesburg arrived with some 600 passengers, Reuters reported.

Dutch officials are conducting additional testing to see if the passengers who tested positive with COVID-19 have the new Omicron variant, Reuters reported.

New York Times health reporter Stephanie Nolen was on the flight from Johannesburg and shared updates on Twitter.

"I am surrounded by MORONS who don't even have their masks on. When we're marooned because of a possibly vaccine-proof variant. WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE," Nolen, who later said she tested negative, tweeted from the tarmac.

A travel ban went into effect on November 26, preventing flights from South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, and Swaziland from entering the Netherlands, according to a travel alert from KLM.