Members of the government’s coronoavirus expert committee Outbreak Management Team (OMT) have received threatening letters, resulting in extra security measures for some, NU.nl reports.

The letters, which were not sent by post but delivered by hand, contained insulting and intimidating language, Nu.nl said.

One team member, Andreass Voss, was told to ‘go back to Germany’ but said he did not feel threatened by the note.

However, virologist Marion Koopmans came in for more sinister threats, with one of the letters containing a picture of a noose and texts like ‘It’s waiting’ and ‘soon’. Koopmans said the threats made her more careful and had prompted her to drive to work instead of taking the train.

Koopmans said the threats increase following tv appearances or newspaper articles. While she would consider winding down media exposure she also said that ‘if everyone who has a sensible story to tell stopped telling it, that would not be a good thing’.

Chairman of the intensive care association and OMT member Diederik Gommers said he had not been threatened personally but called the threats to his colleagues, both by letter and on social media, ‘serious’.

A few OMT members have been given police protection, he said, but whether this a permanent state of affairs he wouldn’t say. ‘But if it is necessary it will be,’ he told Nu.nl.