Dutch military police on Sunday said they had arrested a married couple who left a hotel where they were in quarantine after testing positive for Covid-19, and were attempting to flee the country.

The police known as the Marechausse said in a statement the pair were arrested "in an airplane that was about to depart."

Dozens of passengers who tested positive for Covid-19 after arriving on two flights from South Africa on Friday are being kept in quarantine at a hotel near Amsterdam's Schiphol airport.