Home » Health » Coronavirus discovered in ventilation. RIVM assignment: ‘Not about communicating’

Coronavirus discovered in ventilation. RIVM assignment: ‘Not about communicating’

In June, after the first corona peak, 32 infections were diagnosed in the Maassluise care complex De Tweemaster, to be precise among 17 residents and 18 employees who were in different wards. Eight residents died of the virus. The virus was not brought in from the outside, a visitor stop had been in place for a long time. Scientists, including medical microbiologist Peter de Man, came to the conclusion after research that the corona virus had in all probability spread through the ventilation system.

According to the RIVM, the virus that scientists found in the ventilation systems is a “dead virus”. That is true, says Peter de Man, but mainly because a virus only survives a few hours and he was only given the opportunity to examine the filters nine days after the incident. Nevertheless, De Man believes that the ventilation systems did play a major role in the spread of the virus:

“That sudden sharp peak, the fact that they were wearing caps, the fact that air was being recirculated in that department with no demonstrable real access to the outside air […], at a time with few viruses in the environment made me think, yes, it is very likely that ventilation played a role in that. ”

De Man shared his findings with the GGD and later also with the RIVM, but in his own words he noticed “a lot of reluctance”. He was also told that the spread of the coronavirus via the ventilation system should not have been investigated (“there was no order”). De Man was also urged not to communicate his findings.

Just before the broadcast of Op1, GGD Rotterdam Rijnmond decided, after a new consultation with De Man, to publish the message that “probably no contamination via the ventilation system” took place.


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