Virologist Marion Koopmans has strongly criticized “certain politicians” before the parliamentary coronavirus inquiry committee for fueling threats directed at her. Although she did not name individuals, she strongly denounced the coronavirus conspiracy theories linking her to various claims. Forum voor Democratie was especially involved in spreading them. Koopmans also said that the Netherlands is still not adequately prepared for a future pandemic and stated that earlier restrictions were not realistic.

Koopmans spoke of “incredible hatred, crudeness, and sexism” directed at her. Other members of the Outbreak Management Team (OMT), which advised the Cabinet on coronavirus measures, also experienced this. However: “As a woman, it is even worse.” She repeatedly said she found the threats “bizarre.”

Koopmans said she experienced political pressure on two occasions regarding the OMT’s advice to the government. She explained that the OMT responded by shifting its meeting schedule so that political discussions would take place only after the advisory recommendations had been issued.

“The discussion around access passes was also difficult,” Koopmans recalled. “There were all kinds of movements around it, and there was a lot of pressure. We had a lot of discussions about that.”

Several scientists within the OMT were critical of the COVID access passes that were ultimately recommended. Koopmans told the parliamentary inquiry that the issue was heavily debated internally, but that this discussion was only minimally reflected in the final advice.

Koopmans said the issue had been brought up and was later clarified in public statements. However, committee member Songül Mutluer noted that this clarification was not reflected in the written records.

In the early stages of the coronavirus outbreak, when many uncertainties still existed, the virologist said she wanted to move more quickly with research. “We had to go through standard grant application procedures,” she said, adding that this left researchers constrained during the initial phase of an exceptional crisis.

Despite this, she also said she does not believe it was realistic to impose containment measures much earlier in the coronavirus outbreak. While she noted that acting in early February 2020, when there were still only about 50 confirmed cases across Europe, could in theory have made a significant difference, she stressed that there simply was not enough information at the time to justify such a move.

“I have that same feeling now with Ebola, where we are doing nothing at all,” Koopmans said. According to her, the Netherlands is not taking the outbreak of the deadly virus in eastern Congo seriously enough. Other countries are doing so within the World Health Organization (WHO), the virologist added.

At the conclusion of the hearing, Koopmans was asked whether the Netherlands is adequately prepared. She said she does not believe it is, adding that a small country like the Netherlands cannot do this alone and must align itself with international institutions.

“We are insufficiently prepared, but we have also learned a lot and shown that much is possible. The Netherlands has enormous improvisational capacity,” Koopmans said. “The pandemic acted like a contrast agent to show what we can learn. That now needs to be made more structural for the future.”

The previous government reduced spending on pandemic preparedness by €300 million annually. The current Cabinet has only partly restored that funding, adding back €177 million per year.

She also discussed the decision to allow carnival celebrations to go ahead.
In retrospect, these events are seen as having significantly contributed to the spread of the virus, especially in Noord-Brabant. Although the coronavirus had already reached Europe, it had not yet been identified in the Netherlands, which only occurred at the end of February.

Koopmans said she considers it to have been a step too far to halt carnival festivities solely on the basis of infection numbers in other countries. She added that the government largely adhered to the advice of the Outbreak Management Team (OMT), which she was part of at the time.

On January 24, 2020, the Cabinet told the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Dutch parliament, that it was “well prepared” for a possible coronavirus outbreak. When questioned by the parliamentary COVID-19 inquiry committee on Friday, former health minister Bruno Bruins struggled to clarify the basis for that assessment.

Bruins said that a crisis structure had already been established and that the new virus was classified on that Friday as an A-list infectious disease, granting the health minister extra powers if needed. He was unable to name additional examples, even after further questioning by committee member Dion Huidekooper.

Bruins said there were general crisis handbooks available, but these were not specifically designed for a potential pandemic. “That was not possible either, because we did not know the coronavirus,” he added.