Topic description and stories

Cambridge researchers have played a vital role in the fight back against COVID-19, from the use of genomics to track its spread and mathematic modelling to understand infection rates through to innovative screening programmes to keep its students and staff safe.

Underactive immune response may explain obesity link to COVID-19 severity

20 March 2023

Individuals who are obese may be more susceptible to severe COVID-19 because of a poorer inflammatory immune response, say Cambridge scientists.

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Less than a year to develop a COVID vaccine – here’s why you shouldn’t be alarmed

25 Nov 2020

Self-confessed "clinical trials geek" Dr Mark Toshner discusses the fast-tracking of coronavirus vaccine development for the Conversation.

Vaccines are on the horizon – now is the time to manage the transition rationally

25 Nov 2020

Dr Flavio Toxvaerd, an expert on the economics of infectious disease, discusses people's incentives to self-protect now vaccines appear imminent for...

Man sat looking out of a window at a giant representation of COVID-19. Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Cambridge Dictionary names 'quarantine’ Word of the Year 2020

24 Nov 2020

‘Quarantine’ has defeated 'lockdown' and 'pandemic' to be crowned Word of the Year 2020 after data showed it to be one of the most highly searched...

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What fabric should you make your face mask from?

18 Nov 2020

Engineering PhD candidate Eugenia O’Kelly discusses her recent research on fabric testing to find the most effective face mask materials.

Library life in the time of COVID

17 Nov 2020

What happens when you are a librarian without a library? This is exactly what happened with husband and wife Veronica Phillips, Assistant Librarian...

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Beyond the pandemic: focus on productivity to make everyone better off

16 Nov 2020

There is no way out of the immediate economic hit of a pandemic, says Professor Diane Coyle, but to heal social fractures, we must focus on giving...

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Transmission electron micrograph of SARS-CoV-2 virus particles, isolated from a patient

Cambridge-led SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance consortium receives £12.2 million

16 Nov 2020

The COVID-19 Genomics UK (COG-UK) Consortium has been backed by the Department for Health and Social Care Testing Innovation Fund to expand whole...

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What went wrong in the Czech Republic?

11 Nov 2020

Sociologist Dr Olga Löblová looks at how a country went from being praised for its early response to COVID-19 to topping global charts of infection...

Coronavirus

Discovery of shape of the SARS-CoV-2 genome after infection could inform new COVID-19 treatments

05 Nov 2020

Scientists at the University of Cambridge, in collaboration with Justus-Liebig University, Germany, have uncovered how the genome of SARS-CoV-2 - the...

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Focus on COVID-19 deaths in under-65s for better insights into infection rates across populations, say researchers

02 Nov 2020

Simply comparing the total number of deaths across countries may provide a misleading representation of the underlying level of transmission of SARS-...

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Woman in face mask walking down the street during a coronavirus lockdown

Study measures effectiveness of different face mask materials when coughing

29 Oct 2020

A team of researchers has tested everything from t-shirts and socks to jeans and vacuum bags to determine what type of mask material is most...

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Brain inflammation

Age and pre-existing conditions increase risk of stroke among COVID-19 patients

28 Oct 2020

Fourteen out of every 1,000 COVID-19 patients admitted to hospital experience a stroke, a rate that is even higher in older patients and those with...

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