Inquiry into Covid-19 crisis will only start questioning Rutte, virologists in 2025

The public will only be able to follow the parliamentary inquiry into the Netherlands’ handling of the coronavirus crisis from the spring of 2025 when public hearings with Ministers and virologists will begin. The Temporary Corona Committee will soon send its investigation plan to parliament. But the coronavirus pandemic was so extensive that it expects the investigation to drag on for years, “those involved” told AD.

The goal of the inquiry is to “learn lessons’ to be better prepared for the next health crisis. The committee will investigate various lockdown measures, including school closures and the curfew. They’ll also look at the situation in nursing homes and hospitals during the pandemic.

In the coming two years, the committee will research files and conduct behind-the-scenes discussions. The public hearings won’t start before May 2025, after the parliamentary elections in that year. The committee will likely question leading players like then-Health Minister Hugo de Jonge, Prime Minister Mark Rutte, then-RIVM director Jaap van Dissel, and Ernst Kuipers, who was the chair of the National Network for Acute Care during most of the pandemic.