Couple detained on plane after leaving Dutch quarantine

Dutch military police have arrested a husband and wife who left a hotel where they were being quarantined after testing positive for COVID-19 and boarded a plane bound for Spain

THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- Dutch military police arrested a husband and wife Sunday who had left a hotel where they were being quarantined after testing positive for COVID-19 and boarded a plane.

Local media reported that the couple were trying to fly home to Spain.

A spokeswoman for the local security authority that covers Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport said Monday that an investigation was underway into whether the couple had committed a crime and should be prosecuted.

“Quarantine is not obligatory, but we assume people will act responsibly,” spokeswoman Petra Faber said. “But there was a couple that wanted to go home and they tried to fly home. The Royal Marechaussee took them off the plane and handed them back to the local health authority.”