Travellers returning to the Netherlands by car from coronavirus high risk areas will also soon be required to show a negative Covid test on re-entering the country, health minister Hugo de Jonge told MPs on Tuesday.

The plan is part of proposed changes to the public health act which the government wants to introduce to make quarantine compulsory and which are now being put out to consultation.

Travellers will be checked at random and will also be expected to carry a document stating where they plan to quarantine, the minister said.

Bus companies bringing large groups of people into the country will also be restricted to carrying passengers who have a negative test and a quarantine statement.

The government on Monday extended its recommendation not to travel abroad unless it is an essential journey until mid April.

And travellers to the Netherlands must still be able to show two negative tests if they travel by plane or boat, a PCT test that is no older than 72 hours, and fast antibody test.

However, the ban on flights and ferries from Britain has been lifted from Tuesday – although British residents are technically banned from travelling abroad.

Although travel to the Netherlands from outside the EU is current frowned upon, the government has also agreed that more people should be exempt from the travel ban.

This includes business travellers, students, highly-skilled migrants, professionals from the cultural and creative sectors and people in long-distance romantic relationships.