Outbreak Team members and other experts call for long-term plan to tackle Covid

A group of members of the Outbreak Management Team (OMT), scientists and administrators, wrote a joint advice on tackling the Covid-19 pandemic. In the article, the experts pushed for a long-term plan.

"From fighting a pandemic to living in an endemism" was the outcome of a discussion last week between virologist Marion Koopmans, ICU doctor Diederik Gommers and microbiologist Jan Kluytmans. They are all members of the OMT, which provides the government with advice on acute management of the pandemic. However, experts from other fields also took part in the meeting, such as sociology professor Tanja van der Lippe, Breda Mayor Paul Depla and director of the social and cultural planning office Kim Putters.

The experts proposed to set up a scientific transition team to look into a "structural approach" to the pandemic. Unlike in the OMT, ethicists, economists and communication scientists would also participate in the transition team. The experts would create four future scenarios. In the mildest scenario, the coronavirus has become comparable to a cold. In the worst-case scenario, a new and more harmful variant of the virus appears.

According to Koopmans in an online explanation, it will take time before the coronavirus will be part of the common winter viruses, such as the flu virus. "With structural adjustments that the entire society participates in, you can ensure that the virus spreads less before the need is greatest. This prevents the need for additional drastic measures."