12/05/2020 Resistance from below against corona approach - Elsevier Weekblad

The necessary measures are being taken in the city center of Eindhoven to regulate the flow of visitors. City hosts are deployed on the outskirts of the city center, who welcome visitors and point them to the walking routes. ANP

STORY OF THE DAY Resistance from below against corona approach

By Bram Hahn - May 12, 2020

he Netherlands tackles the coronavirus slightly differently from countries such as Germany and South Korea. The action group Containment.nu does T not understand this course and is conducting a counter campaign. There is a striking amount of unanimity in politics about the approach to the corona virus. However, dissatisfaction with the strategy is growing in society. One of the strongest oppositions comes from action group Containment.nu (https://www.containmentnu.nl/) . This is an action group with a permanent core of approximately five people, including Jaap Stronks (https://bolster.digital/) , who creates digital campaigns in daily life with his company Bolster. He and a few others have been stirring up social media since the outbreak of the virus in the Netherlands because they are amazed at https://wwwth .elsevierweekblad.nl/nederland/achterd i f th O tb k Mgrond/2020/05/verzet-van-onderop-tegen-corona-aanpak-755892/t T d th h i d b th bi t Th t t t d 1/6 12/05/2020 Resistance from below against corona approach - Elsevier Weekblad the advice of the Outbreak Management Team and the choices made by the cabinet. That started, Stronks says on the phone, after Prime Minister 's speech on March 16.

(https://cdn.prod.elseone.nl/uploads/2020/05/ANP-410319655-scaled-e1588849108783.jpg) Read all articles about the corona virus in our file (https://www.elsevierweekblad.nl/dossier/coronavirus/)

Stronks and some like-minded people were immediately amazed at the choice to focus on group immunity, among other things. 'We are not scientists, but people with an international media diet. So there was soon amazement at how the Netherlands deviated from other countries. It is not so much about science, but about policy choices. '

Loose-tie in various chat groups

The more the pandemic spread, the greater the surprise. "We noticed that Sweden, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands really did something different than the countries that successfully managed to get the virus under it." A week or two later, on March 27, they made an appeal via the website Containment.nu to the government to invest in containment of the virus until there are only a few hundred cases and you can extinguish every new fire. .

The group, a loose-knit group of members in a variety of chat groups (on networks such as Discord and Telegram), began to follow scientific literature and contacted scientists abroad and experts such as Jelle Prins (https://thenextspeaker.com/experts/jelle-prins/) , who were asked by the government to think about the apps to build. Mathematician Bert Slagter, who argues (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7VZX9x9gjg) from a mathematical perspective that the current https://www.elsevierweekblad.nl/nederland/achtergrond/2020/05/verzet-van-onderop-tegen-corona-aanpak-755892/ 2/6 12/05/2020( p // y / ResistanceJ7 from9 below9gjg against) corona approach - Elsevierp Weekbladp approach to the virus is not good (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7VZX9x9gjg) , is also in close

contact with Stronks. The group receives no subsidy or any other form of financial support. "We contribute our time and expertise ourselves, and there is also zero budget."

Why is there so little opposition?

How does Stronks explain the relative silence around the corona strategy? "Perhaps it was understandable that little counter-action was given in the beginning. Certainly in the Netherlands there is still a lot of confidence in the government and the government of citizens, media and opposition was given room for crisis management. The government did not want to cause noise that would erode support for the policy. We also heard from The Hague that this was agreed with the opposition. "

From the weekly bath: Is the Netherlands on track, or does it still need to change course? (https://www.elsevierweekblad.nl/nederland/achtergrond/2020/05/ligt- nederland-op-koers-of-moet-het-roer-nog-om-206056w/)

But there was indeed opposition from and ? "Yes, it really has to be said that it was precisely Baudet who saw it very sharply in the debate on 18 March (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPyesbXLbLw) . He seemed the only one who understood the containment strategy. " But the fact that FVD and PVV were critical, probably contributed to the fact that it later became extra difficult to change the course and thus agree with them, Stronks suspects.

Although the World Health Organization (WHO) quickly dismissed (https://www.elsevierweekblad.nl/nederland/achtergrond/2020/04/als-groepsimmuniteit-het-doel- is-zeg-dat-dan-753413/) the idea of group immunity https://www.elsevierweekblad.nl/nederland/achtergrond/2020/05/verzet-van-onderop-tegen-corona-aanpak-755892/ 3/6 12/05/2020 Resistance from below against corona approach - Elsevier Weekblad (https://www.elsevierweekblad.nl/nederland/achtergrond/2020/04/als-groepsimmuniteit-het-doel-

is-zeg-dat-dan-753413/) and insists on increasing test (https://www.elsevierweekblad.nl/nederland/achtergrond/2020/04/als-groepsimmuniteit-het-doel- is-zeg-dat-dan-753413/) capacity, the Netherlands is sticking to the strategy of maximum control, ie a limited spread of the virus, based on what the ICs in hospitals can handle. However, work will be started from April to increase the test capacity, Stronks also sees: 'I actually thought that they would switch to containment silently, there were also signs of expanding the test capacity and building trace apps. But it seems to get bogged down and the option of damming is not coming up seriously on the table. '

Contact investigation capacity is lagging

The test capacity is indeed being increased, which is one of the conditions that the OMT itself set to relax (https://www.elsevierweekblad.nl/nederland/achtergrond/2020/05/van-dissel-legt- versoepelingen-uit-maar-heeft-geenbewijs-voor-mondkapjes-755230/) the preconditions, but the capacity to conduct contact investigations certainly lags behind in comparison to neighboring countries. Stronks: "We started calling health ministries in other countries to find out how many people have been recruited for contact research and put them all in tables." According to Stronks, there are now 4.4 researchers available in the Netherlands for every 100,000 inhabitants, approximately 25 in Germany and tens in Belgium. "Then you can say that damming is not possible, but why can other countries do that?"

Why OMT and the cabinet do what they do, Stronks dares not make a statement about that. "I can't see their cards because they hold their cards to the chest. I still hope that they come to their senses and adjust the policy, otherwise it will be a disaster if there are more relaxations. The lockdown is only lit because there is room on the IC, not because the virus has been defeated. "

Ultimate attempt to adjust course

Containment.nu has already accomplished this. "About 15,000 people have signed the petition and there has been some media coverage." Some opposition members, such as (GroenLinks) and Maarten Hijink (SP), have also asked parliamentary questions about the strategy, but according to Stronks, the cabinet simply denies that there is a different strategy than in other countries. "They say we have a brake pedal, but it's more like a half-pressed accelerator."

https://www.elsevierweekblad.nl/nederland/achtergrond/2020/05/verzet-van-onderop-tegen-corona-aanpak-755892/ 4/6 12/05/2020 Resistance from below against corona approach - Elsevier Weekblad

(https://cdn.prod.elseone.nl/uploads/2020/04/ANP-332146722-scaled-e1585908598233.jpg)

Also read from Bram Hahn: If group immunity is the goal, say so (https://www.elsevierweekblad.nl/nederland/achtergrond/2020/04/als- groepsimmuniteit-het-doel-is-zeg-dat-dan-753413/)

In an ultimate attempt to draw attention to the strategy of damming, the action group will launch a new campaign on Wednesday May 13, Breek de golf !, with the accompanying petition website (https://www.breekdegolf.nl/) . Because Stronks doesn't give up hope: 'It is possible to dam it up: you don't have to completely eradicate the virus, but you have to get it so small that you can detect and extinguish hot spots. Just look at South Korea. You now hear that the pandemic is flaring up again, but it is precisely thanks to their strategy that they are detecting new infections and quickly controlling them. It is really possible. "

And if the Netherlands does not make adjustments? "Then I fear the shore will turn the ship. The argument against damming is that an open country like the Netherlands cannot control incoming traffic. But it will soon go the other way. The Netherlands will be the exception, with many unnecessary victims and an isolated position. ”

Bram Hahn Bram Hahn (1973) is editor of Knowledge & Culture.

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