{"id":119358,"date":"2020-11-05T17:19:22","date_gmt":"2020-11-05T16:19:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=119358"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:25:13","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:25:13","slug":"eur-distances-itself-from-rsm-professor-after-claims-about-covid-1-to-18","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2020\/11\/05\/eur-distances-itself-from-rsm-professor-after-claims-about-covid-1-to-18\/","title":{"rendered":"EUR distances itself from claims by RSM professor about \u2018Covid-1 to 18\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rotterdam School of Management (RSM) and Erasmus University have distanced themselves from claims about coronavirus made by Professor of\u00a0Behaviour and Performance Management\u00a0<\/em>Micha\u00e9la Schippers in the youtube show ‘FvD-journaal’ by political party Forum voor Democratie<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Micha\u00e9la Schippers guesting on FvD news programme.<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tForum voor Democratie<\/span>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

In the broadcast<\/a> on 1 October by the political movement, Schippers, an outspoken opponent of the current strict coronavirus measures, admitted that she is \u2018no virologist\u2019, but that Covid-19 was preceded by \u2018Covid-1 to 18\u2019 and that there will be a Covid-20, and that the diseases will always take the same course, \u2018regardless of the measures taken\u2019.<\/p>\n

However, the 19 in Covid-19 is not a number in a sequence but refers to 2019, the year in which the disease was discovered. There have been previous coronaviruses, but the diseases had different names like SARS and MERS. Furthermore, previous coronaviruses did not have the same impact as SARS-CoV-2, which causes Covid-19.<\/p>\n

\u2018Wrongly interpreted\u2019<\/h2>

On Twitter, Schippers responded that her claims had been \u2018wrongly interpreted\u2019 and she refers to a video on\u00a0Caf\u00e9\u00a0Weltschmerz<\/em> by Emeritus Professor of Immunology Pierre Capel, in which he discusses earlier outbreaks of coronavirus. In contrary to common scientific literature, he calls those outbreaks \u2018Covid-5, Covid-12, Covid-11 and Covid-19\u2019.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday afternoon, RSM and EUR both responded to the outcry on Twitter. \u201cThe claims made by Professor Schippers in the media about the Covid-19 measures are her personal opinions. EUR and RSM emphasise that her vision does not represent the position of the university and RSM and we explicitly distance ourselves from her claims on this subject,\u201d the university writes on its Twitter account.<\/p>\n

Total freedom<\/h2>

In response to questions by EM, however, the university says that \u2018everyone at EUR and RSM has total freedom of opinion. That opinion certainly does not need to reflect the university\u2019s position.\u2019<\/p>\n

When asked whether internal measures had also been taken against Schippers, a spokesperson from the faculty said: \u201cThe faculty had an open discussion with Schippers, shared positions, expressed criticism and discussed possible issues. This is how things should be done in a faculty and reflects a healthy scientific approach. We will not be commenting on any measures relating to staff.\u201d<\/p>\n

'100 million deaths'<\/h2>

The behavioural scientist from RSM had already criticised Dutch coronavirus policy. In an interview with EM, she claimed that the economic problems caused by the pandemic could lead to 100 million\u00a0deaths worldwide<\/a>.<\/p>\n

During a symposium organised by coronavirus critics Sven Hulleman and Elke de Klerk on 11 September, Schippers called on people to ignore government measures to tackle coronavirus. \u201cWe must not follow the measures. How can they maintain a lockdown if 17 million people do not keep to them?\u201d she asked\u00a0from the podium<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Schippers has told EM that she does not want to answer questions about her performance on FvD or about the university\u2019s reaction. \u201cWe are talking to the faculty and the Executive Board about it. I have no further comment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

\n\t\t\n\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Lees dit interview met Micha\u00e9la Schippers<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t