More people are bringing coronavirus back from holiday abroad, even though the number of positive tests in the Netherlands is going down, figures from public health institute RIVM show.

Public health boards found 170 had picked up the virus while abroad in the past week, compared with 113 in the previous seven day period, the Volkskrant reported on Wednesday.

The paper says it is likely that even more people became infected with coronavirus while on holiday, because health board officials fail to find the source in 70% of new cases.

However, the proportion of people who were abroad in the two weeks preceding their positive test has risen from 18% to 25%.

In particular 278 people who have been in Spain tested positive for coronavirus in the past week, almost 100 more than in the previous seven day period, the VK said.

Orange

On Monday, the government increased its travel risk advisory for all of Spain to code orange, meaning all but essential travel should be avoided. In addition, people returning from code orange areas should go into quarantine for 10 days.

Testing has been introduced at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport and is recommended for everyone returning from a code orange area. However, the test centre is only open from 6am to 6pm, meaning many passengers have to use their local health board’s facilities instead.

Several travellers returning from Spain told the Telegraaf that they considered the quarantine requirement to be ‘nonsense’.

‘I’ve got my own house there,’ one said. ‘I barely come into contact with anyone. I don’t think I have picked anything up, so I am not worried.’