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Wow. Dutch Outbreak Management Team (OMT) now concedes that the assumption that high school students play a very limited role in covid transmission was "a mistake." Literature this assumption was based on is non-existent, according to Nieuwsuur.
https://amp.nos.nl/artikel/2363556-reconstructie-afstand-scholieren-wel-belangrijk-zeggen-omt-leden-nu.html?__twitter_impression=true
https://amp.nos.nl/artikel/2363556-reconstructie-afstand-scholieren-wel-belangrijk-zeggen-omt-leden-nu.html?__twitter_impression=true
The OMT is the body of scientific experts that advise the Dutch gov't. It was on their and the Dutch CDC's recommendation that Dutch high schools did not require social distancing and mask use among students, contrary to WHO guidelines and international practice.
Dutch CDC-director Jaap van Dissel argued that the scientific literature showed that social distancing measures would be damaging to students' educational and social well-being. It now turns out that the literature in support of this recommendation does not exist.
Investigative journalist Milena Holdert quoting a Dutch CDC statement admitting that "there is no study demonstrating that keeping 1.5m apart is damaging to students' wellbeing." https://twitter.com/milenaholdert/status/1347557112927416330?s=20
Despite observing increased transmission among high-school-aged children as early as August, social distance measures were not recommended because education was deemed too important, as well as practical concerns (public support & school-level logistics).
Voices from within the OMT now say that this was a mistake, and want schools to reopen with some measure of social distancing. Meanwhile, Dutch parents have taken the Dutch state to court and are demanding that the gov't follow WHO-guidelines. Verdict expected Thursday next week.
For contrast, here's former Dutch CDC director Roel Coutinho back in December:"The moment you start deviating from scientifically backed recommendations you need to come up with some very good arguments to show why you're doing so." (3:10-3:22) https://twitter.com/Nieuwsuur/status/1343662341548814337?s=20
Note that the above interview was conducted in the context of the slow Dutch vaccination roll-out, but in this instance, too, Coutinho's words ring true.
Why am I including this interview from December? To drive home the fact that for the last 6 months, gov't policy re: schools (with very real consequences) was based not on purely scientific evidence, but, in the words of OMT member Karoly Illy, "a mistake."
People fell ill, or even died, because of an official recommendation issued by a national scientific institution based on an assumption now deemed "a mistake," that was left willfully uncorrected. "A mistake." Let that sink in for minute.
Mistakes are consistently made at every level of the gov't pandemic response. They are not kept to a minimum and they are often only corrected many months after the fact, or left willfully ignored.
Health Minister @hugodejonge even stated in a recent debate with the opposition that "making mistakes is part of my job," and has said many times over that mistakes are inevitable. However-correct me if I'm wrong- mistakes, should only happen incidentally, not systematically.
They certainly shouldn't be left unattended for half a year. Seeing mistake after mistake after mistake, it's not difficult to see that they are not aberrations from a covid-policy otherwise working, but actually undergird the Dutch covid-response.
