Virologist Marion Koopmans warns that we need to brace ourselves for the next pandemic

Virologist Marion Koopman says that we need to brace ourselves for the next pandemic of a new disease. “We have to invest now to arm ourselves against another outbreak.” This was reported in an interview with Trouw.

In addition to being a professor of virology, Koopmans is a member of the Outbreak Management Team and an advisor to the World Health Organization and the European Commission.

She emphasizes the importance of science. “It seems to me that it is a huge challenge to investigate whether we can predict such an outbreak. Whether we can miniaturize the world in a lab to see what is really happening. When does a virus have pandemic potential?”

Once the coronavirus is under control, we should “not go back to normal,” urges Koopmans. “We should not make that mistake. I hope that we will think about our own role in the origin of pandemics, that due to climate change, deforestation, and our way of life, viruses are spreading more and more.”