STUDY CONTINUES TO GAIN UNDERSTANDING OF COVID-19 VIRUS TRANSMISSION

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The PROTECT COVID-19 National Core Study on transmission and the environment will continue until March 2023, with extra funding to enable academic researchers to continue to improve an understanding of how the virus is transmitted and to respond to new challenges posed by the changing situation of the pandemic.

This extension will also help to ensure the knowledge, research methods and networks created by PROTECT are preserved to improve both the UK’s preparedness for future pandemics, and an ability to manage other endemic respiratory diseases.

The programme supports almost 40 research projects across six themes and a range of scientific disciplines, including microbiology, epidemiology, building science, behavioural science and mathematical modelling.

Prof Andrew Curran, HSE’s Chief Scientific Adviser and PROTECT study lead, said: “Since October 2020, the programme has played an important role in informing the UK’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, by affirming the critical importance of good ventilation as a virus control measure.

“Our researchers have made important progress in improving the UK’s capacity to understand and respond to both pandemic and endemic respiratory diseases, acting in a responsive way as new challenges emerged. The knowledge, methods and collaborations established must be preserved and harnessed, such that when the next pandemic comes, we are not starting with a blank piece of paper.”

Sir Patrick Vallance, UK Government Chief Scientific Advisor, who established the COVID-19 National Core Studies programme, said the programme has been crucial for the production and co-ordination of research needed to answer key strategic, policy and operational questions throughout the pandemic.

The PROTECT COVID-19 National Core Study aims to improve an understanding of how the Covid-19 virus is transmitted from person to person, and how it varies in different settings and environments. This improved understanding will enable more effective measures to stop transmission, saving lives and getting society back towards ‘normal’.