NL: Travelers dodging quarantine rules fined 125 times after 1,000 checks

AMSTERDAM - About 125 people were fined 339 euros for violating mandatory rules about entering into a mandatory quarantine after arriving in the Netherlands from another country, according to AD. The quarantine order went into effect on June 1 for anyone arriving from a country considered at high-risk for the coronavirus infection.

The countries on the list has changed over time. Anyone crossing the Dutch border from one of those countries is required to carry a signed declaration stating they will enter into quarantine in the Netherlands at a home or hotel of their choosing. The quarantine is to last for ten days, though a negative test on the fifth day can release the quarantine.

The declarations are given to travel operators before departure, who then submit them to the Ministry of Health. The ministry uses a pool of telephone operators to randomly make checks over the phone. "Up to and including August 15, about 20,000 quarantine statements have been processed by the call team," a ministry spokesperson told the newspaper.

When someone is repeatedly unreachable, or when someone is “suspected of not complying with the quarantine obligation”, the ministry notifies the relevant municipality listed on the person’s quarantine declaration. The law gave municipal authorities, including police and security enforcement workers, the power to carry out checks to see if travelers are abiding by the rule.

 

One thousand checks took place between June 1 and August 15, an average of over 13 per day, according to data from the ministry given to AD. An average of 1 or 2 people were found daily to be in violation, resulting in the fine.




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