Re: Covid-19: Test and trace programmes are important but no silver bullet, say scientists
Dear Editor,
We have read about the contact tracing and isolation.
The COVID-19 pandemic is fuelling extremism on the far-right and far-left and is giving Islamic State and other militants to exploit the situation because local governments are weakened by the pandemic.
Both the European Union's counter-terrorism chief Gilles de Kerchove, and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres have warned for terrorism to gain influence again.
We also think, that after Ebola, and other pathogens, SARS-CoV-2 would be very easily used as a terrorist weapon and this even very easily: with minimal effort and maximal ‘return on investment’.
Ebola was already considered by IS and the Aum group in Japan, but this would mean suicide missions with probable little effect. On the contrary, terrorists using SARS-CoV-2 to spread COVID-19 would not be killed themselves, and if ‘lucky’ they would have the same effect as the Austrian bartender, namely an outbreak all over Europe or the parties they are targeting (the military, mosques, synagogues, the Vatican, political leaders (many of them being at risk: male, >70 y, obese, not wearing mouth masks properly,…),...
EU released intelligence that in Tunisia factions attempted the spreading of SARS-CoV-2 in the security forces.
WHO, EU and national (medical) contingency plans should also stress multi-site attacks/outbreaks by terrorist factions. Surveillance of COVID-19 by contact tracing should also contain red flags for multisite outbreaks or outbreaks at terrorist-sensitive areas. Contact tracing teams should also cooperate with intelligence services, at least with a liaison officer available.
In January no one believed hospitals in Europe would be in the line of fire of COVID-19. We should not make the same mistake in not believing terrorist factions would not even think about using this pandemic in creating what they stand for: terror and panic.
References:
1.Baker L. Militants, fringe groups exploiting COVID-19, warns EU anti-terrorism chief. Reuters. April 30, 2020. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-eu-security-idUSKB...
2.Covid-19 gives 'window' into how bio-terrorist attack may unfold: UN chief Guterres described the battle against COVID-19 as the fight of a generation -- and the raison d'être of the United Nations itself. Business standard. April 11 2020. https://www.business-standard.com/article/international/covid-19-gives-w...
3.De Cauwer H, Somville FJMP, Joillet M. Neurological aspects of chemical and biological terrorism: guidelines for neurologists. Acta neurologica belgica 2017; 117(3):603-611.
Competing interests:
No competing interests
30 May 2020
Harald De Cauwer
Neurologist
Somville Francis JMP
Regional Hospital Geel, Belgium. Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Antwerp, Belgium
Rapid Response:
Re: Covid-19: Test and trace programmes are important but no silver bullet, say scientists
Dear Editor,
We have read about the contact tracing and isolation.
The COVID-19 pandemic is fuelling extremism on the far-right and far-left and is giving Islamic State and other militants to exploit the situation because local governments are weakened by the pandemic.
Both the European Union's counter-terrorism chief Gilles de Kerchove, and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres have warned for terrorism to gain influence again.
We also think, that after Ebola, and other pathogens, SARS-CoV-2 would be very easily used as a terrorist weapon and this even very easily: with minimal effort and maximal ‘return on investment’.
Ebola was already considered by IS and the Aum group in Japan, but this would mean suicide missions with probable little effect. On the contrary, terrorists using SARS-CoV-2 to spread COVID-19 would not be killed themselves, and if ‘lucky’ they would have the same effect as the Austrian bartender, namely an outbreak all over Europe or the parties they are targeting (the military, mosques, synagogues, the Vatican, political leaders (many of them being at risk: male, >70 y, obese, not wearing mouth masks properly,…),...
EU released intelligence that in Tunisia factions attempted the spreading of SARS-CoV-2 in the security forces.
WHO, EU and national (medical) contingency plans should also stress multi-site attacks/outbreaks by terrorist factions. Surveillance of COVID-19 by contact tracing should also contain red flags for multisite outbreaks or outbreaks at terrorist-sensitive areas. Contact tracing teams should also cooperate with intelligence services, at least with a liaison officer available.
In January no one believed hospitals in Europe would be in the line of fire of COVID-19. We should not make the same mistake in not believing terrorist factions would not even think about using this pandemic in creating what they stand for: terror and panic.
References:
1.Baker L. Militants, fringe groups exploiting COVID-19, warns EU anti-terrorism chief. Reuters. April 30, 2020. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-eu-security-idUSKB...
2.Covid-19 gives 'window' into how bio-terrorist attack may unfold: UN chief Guterres described the battle against COVID-19 as the fight of a generation -- and the raison d'être of the United Nations itself. Business standard. April 11 2020. https://www.business-standard.com/article/international/covid-19-gives-w...
3.De Cauwer H, Somville FJMP, Joillet M. Neurological aspects of chemical and biological terrorism: guidelines for neurologists. Acta neurologica belgica 2017; 117(3):603-611.
Competing interests: No competing interests