Niesters: Illusion to think you can stop coronavirus

Whether it is right for the government to offer travelers from China only a voluntary self-test for the coronavirus, virologist Bert Niesters does not know. "The virus is coming here, we can't stop it, we don't need to have any illusions about that. But Europe now has a mess of rules, and that's a shame. It makes more sense to have a European approach," Niesters argued.

Other countries require the presentation of a negative Covid-19 test or vaccination certificate before leaving China. This regulation is in place in the United Kingdom, France, Spain and Italy. Also other countries have taken measures, such as the United States, South Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan, Japan and India. Belgium will discuss the situation next week.

The Netherlands however, sticks with the self-test offered and the recommendation to go into isolation in case of a positive result. But Niesters does not know what the right approach is. "I don't have to do politics. I am already glad that the minister is now speaking out, so that something is being said after all. Because the ministry and RIVM were the only ones you didn't hear from last week."

The Dutch are generally well protected against the coronavirus, according to the virologist. People have built up a high level of protection through vaccination and through one or more infections with Covid-19. "That helps against serious illness, but it doesn't prevent you from getting infected. And even if it's the omicron variety, you can get reasonably sick from it. We're not worried that there will be a dangerous variant, but who can predict the future?"

For Niesters, the big problem is in the numbers. "The wave in China is huge. Assuming half of the Chinese are infected, we're talking about 700 million people. That's more cases than have been detected worldwide so far. That's not a small peak."

The virologist explained that he is sometimes shocked at the number of people infected on flights from China. In Milan recently, about half of all passengers on some flights from China tested positive. "If half are (tested) positive, everyone is infected, you can assume that. Because then you can't escape it if you're on a plane with others for 12 hours. But the chance that you won't get infected then is very small."

That is why, according to Niesters, it is important for China to continue testing for the coronavirus and analyzing test samples to determine which variants are circulating.

These so-called sequences should then also be shared by the country with the rest of the world. "Groningen has also shared more results in recent months. The World Health Organization has asked China to provide more up-to-date information so we can make risk assessments and take effective action."