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.

Intensive care unit at Addenbrooke's Hospital

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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COVID-19: The long view

22 May 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic should only present a short-term interruption to 250 years of improving life expectancy, argues historian Leigh Shaw-Taylor.

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Healthcare workers checking each other’s personal protective equipment

Healthcare rationing could see unlawful deaths from COVID-19, researchers claim

21 May 2020

Current medical guidelines risk unlawful deaths of patients – with doctors, hospitals, and even the government potentially liable – if a second peak...

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Tackling COVID-19: Karl Wilson

21 May 2020

Operations Director Karl Wilson has helped lead a herculean effort to transform a standard laboratory into a bespoke testing centre, to aid the...

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Coronavirus

National trial launched to test re-purposing existing drugs to treat COVID-19 patients

20 May 2020

A new trial to prevent organ failure and death in COVID-19 patients has been launched led by clinicians and scientists in Cambridge and London.

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Police stopping traffic in UK lockdown

Rolling 50/30 day cycle of lockdown and relaxation could be a useful option for managing COVID-19, model suggests

20 May 2020

An alternating cycle of 50 days of strict lockdown followed by 30 days of easing could be an effective strategy for reducing the number of COVID-19-...

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The problem with combining R ratios

18 May 2020

Prof Julia Gog and the editors of Plus Maths magazine get granular on the infamous 'R' number, and how it differs from care homes and hospitals to...

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New writing on the coronavirus crisis – free from CUP

18 May 2020

From pandemics in Ancient Rome to lockdown reflections from Buenos Aires, the Press' 1584 blog is hosting new essays from authors across disciplines...

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Tackling COVID-19: Dr Sander van der Linden

14 May 2020

“The psychology of pandemics was not on my research agenda, but I can tell you one thing: it is now,” says Dr Sander van der Linden. As an expert in...

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Sheffield's Women of Steel statue during the pandemic

Opinion: Employers should cut hours not people during the pandemic

13 May 2020

If the UK emulated short-time working programmes in countries like Germany it would help mitigate the mental health as well as economic crises caused...

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Testing suggests 3% of NHS hospital staff may be unknowingly infected with coronavirus

12 May 2020

Hospital staff may be carrying SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 disease, without realising they are infected, according to a study by...

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Why have the UK's governments diverged on easing lockdown?

12 May 2020

Boris Johnson’s 10 May address sparked public disagreements with the devolved governments. Jack Sheldon and Michael Kenny from the Bennett Institute...

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Social media influencers could encourage adolescents to follow social distancing guidelines, say researchers

12 May 2020

Public health bodies should consider incentivising social media influencers to encourage adolescents to follow social distancing guidelines, say...

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