Auteur: Rob Captijn

Praktijkervaringen met ionisatie-apparatuur

As a result of how things are being reported, among other factors, a large proportion of Dutch citizens hugely overestimates their risk of getting infected. Based on a couple of simple assumptions, we calculate that of the next 8,500 people you will meet, 1 will infect you.

This article discusses the extremely shaky data based on which the governments have acted "evidence-based". Examples discussed include the vague reproduction factor, insufficient specifications in the numbers, the impossibility of "crash the curve" in the Netherlands and the second wave.

As I was listening to the RIVM briefing yesterday, and the subsequent debate in the Second Chamber, I was wondering whether they were even talking about COVID-19. This article provides an overview of what is now known about the virus based on international research, but has not, or barely, reached the Dutch media and politics.

Toen ik gister luisterde naar de briefing van het RIVM en het daarop volgende debat in de Tweede Kamer, vroeg ik me af of ze het überhaupt wel over het COVID-19 virus hadden. Dit artikel geeft een overzicht van wat er inmiddels op basis van internationaal onderzoek bekend is over het virus, maar nog niet of nauwelijks is doorgedrongen tot de Nederlandse media en politiek.

"1,5-metre distance", "wash your hands", "sneeze in your elbow" and "a second wave is on its way". These were the foundations of the WHO's strategy based on which lockdowns were imposed globally. But these mantras are sending us off in the wrong direction while the true danger is not being fully recognized. A deadly mix during this enormous crisis.

Once again, tonight's announcement demonstrates that the recent studies on the spread of COVID-19 are being ignored by the advisors at best. Fear is being stoked while the risk of a repetition of March - at least until the fall - is all but zero. This article asks 8 of the most crucial questions that our experts are not being asked.

The major outbreaks in Manaus (Brazil) and Guayaquil (Ecuador) are often used to demonstrate that the effect of high humidity I've been pointing at, cannot be true. Unfortunately, that says more about the general state of ignorance about how the virus spreads than it does about my reasoning. This article explains why.

As long as the information about aerosols isn't taken seriously, RIVM and the virologists will keep unnecessarily forcing the 1.5-meter social distancing rule onto our society. In addition, a source of contamination is being ignored, which may have dire consequences by the time our schools open up again.

This is really the most crucial question in the fight against the spread of the virus. The answer will have a huge impact on developments, not only in the coming months, but also in the years to come. Are aerosols playing an important role in the infection with the virus, or not?

Het RIVM, OMT en de regering maken een ernstige fout als ze het verspreiden via aerosols blijven negeren. Onderzoek toont aan dat bij een luchtvochtigheid in binnenruimtes van 43% (bij 20°) de kans om besmet te worden door aerosols 5 keer zo klein is als bij een luchtvochtigheid van 20%.

It struck me for the first time a month ago: in the US, workers in the meat processing industry went on strike because COVID-19 had broken out among a number of colleagues. That turned out to be only the beginning, as we now see large numbers of infected workers in the meat processing industry outside …

Meat processing industry: superspreading hot spots Lees verder »

  In the past few days we heard in the various talk shows on TV, that the R0 (reproduction factor) is on the rise again towards 1. That gives you the feeling that “we” are going in the wrong direction again, despite all the strict measures,. But if you delve a bit deeper into the …

What do the numbers say. Are we doing well or not? Lees verder »

I remember well when in university I was first explained what a mock relationship is. In Denmark there was a strong correlation between the birth rate and the number of storks that had their nests there. The explanation was that there are more storks in the countryside, where also more children are born than in …

There is a provable causal connection! Lees verder »

As a result of my Dutch TV performance last Saturday, I get two kinds of reactions. There are people who are (very) positive about what I publish and tell. And there are people (often with some kind of anger), that dismiss me for not being a virologist or epidemiologist, so how I dare to investigate …

What social geography adds to the containment of COVID-19 Lees verder »

Financial Times has a page with a nice way to read international comparisons regarding the changes in the spread of the virus. It is important to understand what figures they show in those international comparisons. They use the average number of deaths over the last 7 days. As day zero for their graph, they use …

Interesting international comparisons Lees verder »

The municipality of Peel en Maas is the municipality with the most hospitalizations in the Netherlands. TV newscast EenVandaag devoted a report to it on 19 March. A meeting on 5 March in community center De Poart in Kessel was the superspread event for the outbreak there. The available data give a good impression of …

The superspread event on March 5th in Kessel Lees verder »

Through Peil.nl I raised a number of questions in relation to the Corona crisis, including the questions of what to do with the exit strategy, how likely participants feel they are going to get corona and how hard it is for their industry to adjust to social distancing.

The theme is that there is a complete mismatch between the threat of the virus and the measures taken in many countries. Actually, macroeconomist Lars Juning best describes this with the expression “We are collectively committing hara-kiri“. He wrote a report for the EU in 2006 on the economic impact that a pandemic could have …

“We are collectively committing hara-kiri” Lees verder »

I have already indicated that there are apparently certain events where someone who is infected without even knowing it, infects a lot of others at once. While the image given so far is that these are “super spreaders”, i.e. persons who, for one reason or another, infect many others, I think that these events are …

That’s how big the impact of super spread events is Lees verder »