Corona Daily 070: Professor Van Ranst in Hiding

Marc Van Ranst, 55, the chief virologist of Belgium, is hiding with his family in a “safe house” in a secret place.

On 17 May, Jurgen Conings, a military shooting instructor, stole a rocket launcher, machine gun and other ammunition before disappearing. The ex-soldier had served in Afghanistan. Before he made himself AWOL (Absent Without Official Leave), he wrote a letter to his girlfriend. In it, he said “I could no longer live in a society where politicians and virologists have taken everything away from us.” Conings, known for his far-right leanings, is a man of action. On twitter he posted: “Who has Van Ranst’s address?”

It transpired that the heavily armed Conings was waiting on professor Ranst’s street, right in front of his house on 18 May. He had waited for the epidemiologist to return from his work. That day, fortunately, the professor had returned home early, and was with his family.

Belgian authorities now admit Conings was already on a terrorism watch list because of his extremist messaging. It was a mistake to allow such a man access to a weapons store.

Earlier this week, Facebook shut down a 45,000 member support group for Conings. However, such groups now use the Telegram app, which wants to grab market share from WhatsApp and Messenger. Telegram is lenient, and known for its encrypted messages.

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This week, 250 police officers and 150 army men have been combing the Hoge Kempen national park near the Dutch border. The German and the Dutch police are supporting the action. Two helicopters, armored carriers and heavy vehicles are deployed for this national manhunt.

On 4 June, a magistrate has launched an investigation for attempted murder, terrorism and possession of weapons.

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While Marc Ranst faces a lockdown triggered by a terrorist, Japp Van Dissel, his Dutch counterpart is the victim of a hate campaign that claimed he was a pedophile. Professor Dissel was not threatened by a gunman, but by two women.

A 54 year old woman shared the professor’s home address on Telegram and urged followers to “bring bricks on his birthday”. The woman was arrested, tried, and sentenced to eight weeks in prison.

Another lady, a 53 year old, circulated a vicious video stating that Van Dissel was a pedophile. She was given six weeks.

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Each democratic country has a leading epidemiologist since the beginning of the pandemic. Names like Dr Fauci in the USA or Dr Neil Ferguson in the UK are known internationally. As experts, they appear on television, in some countries on a daily basis, and explain the situation and measures taken. They are as prominent as the country’s leaders.

In fact, I would say the presence of the chief epidemiologist is a measure of the nation’s democracy. An authoritarian political leader doesn’t like to create another power center. If you struggle to name the chief epidemiologist in your country, you can assume democracy is absent or in danger.

In civilized nations, prominent epidemiologists have been villainised. They are accused of being responsible for lockdowns, masks, isolation, travel restrictions and business closures. Bild, the well known German newspaper, blamed professor Drosten, Germany’s chief epidemiologist, for closure of schools and kindergartens. Dr Fauci faces rants, criticisms, accusations and death threats. In some cases, frustrated people who have lost their jobs may vent their anger. A Belgian chef had asked on his Facebook wall if anyone could put a bullet in Van Ranst for his scaremongering. His restaurant was shut as a result of the lockdown announced by Ranst. Next day, though, the chef apologized for his emotional outbreak.

Most epidemiologists worldwide have been provided with police protection. The situation with Professor Van Ranst is an extreme one where a trained sniper is out to kill him, and Belgium is on an unprecedented manhunt.

For the sake of science and humanity, we have to hope the terrorist is arrested and that professor Ranst and his family can return to a reasonably normal life. If virologists are subjected to constant death threats, who would want to take up that job when the next virus pops up?

Ravi