Overview
- Diederik Gommers, an ICU physician and former OMT member, told the parliamentary inquiry that allowing hospitals to fill before tightening measures was "in hindsight a bad choice."
- He said the Outbreak Management Team repeatedly urged the cabinet to act earlier and stronger but felt it was left behind by political decisions.
- Gommers described a deliberate policy choice to tolerate wider viral circulation until hospital pressure rose, a stance he said reflected rising weight given to economic and social consequences.
- He said the second wave lasted about six months, with Dutch ICUs holding roughly 800 patients and remaining full through the end of April 2021.
- Gommers detailed severe human costs: nurses were forced to care for more patients at once, which strained staff, lowered quality of care, and raises questions for the inquiry about future staffing and surge planning.