Minister Kuipers says expanding health care capabilities is not a solution to the pandemic. “If we expand care by 20 percent, and that’s going to be a lot, and there’s a virus that’s spreading quickly, then with a lot of money you buy two days of care.”
In the case of a highly contagious disease-causing virus, Kuipers says, hospitals would not be able to accommodate a large peak anyway. He says other measures will always be needed to keep the pressure on hospitals under control. “I can’t stress that enough.”
Kuipers says the fact that the WHO’s Europe director has been talking about an end-game to a pandemic due to the omicron variable remains uncertain. “This is difficult to predict. It depends on the emergence and characteristics of new variables.”
If the new alternative is less disgusting, you could end up in such an end game, according to Kuipers. “What is also possible is that there will be a more pathogenic variant. What comes into play next is how immunity develops, due to previous infections and vaccinations. If a new virus survives that, we have a serious problem again.” According to Kuipers, stricter measures may be necessary.
