Two years since lockdown: how UK researchers have dealt with the fallout from COVID
In the two years since the first national lockdown UKRI has funded thousands of new research projects that have also tackled the wider impact of the pandemic. Discover how this work continues to drive recovery in many different aspect of our lives…
It has been two years since the Prime Minister appeared on television screens to announce the ‘stay at home’ directive and first nationwide lockdown. Life changed almost overnight for individuals, communities and businesses as they came to terms with the realities of a global pandemic.
COVID-19 also caused a seismic change in the research community. Not just for the scientists who focussed their efforts on creating the incredible vaccines and treatments that would go on to save millions of lives, but also for those researchers who sought to tackle the pandemic’s impact on all aspects of our lives.
From home-schooling children to protecting bus drivers from infection, drone-delivered medical supplies to super-fast sanitising, UKRI has invested £554m on more than 3,300 new research and innovation initiatives over the past two years, aiding recovery from the pandemic and also creating a legacy of positive change across our society.
Saving lives through research and testing
Without the staggering speed and innovation of UK research during the pandemic, it’s safe to say the world would look very different today. The combination of vaccines, treatments, sequencing of variants and ongoing surveillance has saved millions of lives, not just in the UK but globally.
In March 2020, as countries around the globe started to lock down, scientists at University of Oxford were already investigating how their existing work on vaccines could be modified to tackle SARS-Cov-2. By April that year, the first doses were trialled, and by the end of the year the nationwide rollout had begun. To date, over 2.6 billion doses are estimated to have prevented 50 million COVID-19 cases.
Around the same time, a ground-breaking clinical trial was established that went on to transform the treatment of COVID-19. The RECOVERY trial assembled a crack team of experts to compare treatments for the most seriously ill patients in hospital.
Within three months, it discovered that an inexpensive, readily available steroid, dexamethasone, saved lives. It’s estimated to have reduced worldwide COVID-19 deaths by up to a third.
We are all now all too aware of the threat posed by mutations of the virus, but UK scientists were among the first to identify variants.
By sequencing hundreds of thousands of SARS-CoV-2 genomes, the COG-UK consortium identified the Alpha and Delta variants and helped scientists around the world better understand viral transmission and evolution. It is still leading the world in identifying and assessing the threat of new variants.
As restrictions lift, it’s never been more important to monitor outbreaks. One of the peculiarities of the SARS-Cov-2 virus is that around 20% of people show no symptoms while infected, so researchers have developed an early warning system that can detect levels of coronavirus in sewage.
And, with an ever-increasing number of people having been infected with the virus, it’s also crucial to understand its long-term impact on health.
Imperial College’s REACT programme is the largest surveillance study ever undertaken in England and is helping to identify the prevalence of Long COVID. These insights will help inform how the NHS allocates resources to care for the growing number of Long COVID patients.
Tech-powered healthcare
At the height of the first lockdown, isolation and distancing presented a variety of challenges that researchers sought to address with the latest technology. A team at University of Southampton tackled the logistical difficulties of delivering urgent medical supplies to remote and hard-to-reach areas. Working with drone companies, they developed an unmanned aerial vehicle that could carry up to 100kg over 1000km, and successfully piloted a drone carrying PPE and COVID-19 testing kits from Cornwall over the sea to the Isles of Scilly.
While stay-at-home orders were not easy for anyone, social isolation presented particular problems for certain groups. New mums found themselves without access to vital breastfeeding support, leading some to stop breastfeeding earlier than they had wanted. The LatchAid app was created to provide 24/7 virtual assistance, using 3D technology and an AI-powered virtual supporter. Its success means it could soon be prescribed across the UK.
Teenagers struggling with anxiety and other mental health issues were also able to find help through their phones. An app developed by WYSA used AI to support more than 500,000 young people. With over 90% saying it made them feel better after just one session, this technology has the potential to help tackle the growing mental health crisis that has been further exacerbated by the pandemic.
Keeping people safe through sanitation
The start of the pandemic saw shortages of hand sanitiser on supermarket shelves and — crucially — for front-line workers. By collaborating with a local brewery and modifying equipment used in their solar technology research, a volunteer team at Swansea University were able to produce 5000 litres a week of WHO-certified alcohol sanitiser to local health boards and care homes.
Other projects achieved huge leaps in the speed and efficiency of sterilising surfaces, spaces and equipment. Traditional cleaning methods take more than half an hour to disinfect an ambulance, but a new approach using microwaves slashed that to five minutes.
Bus drivers were three times more likely to die in the first wave of the pandemic, so a team at UCL simulated passenger behaviour and air flow to identify hot-spots of contamination. Transport for London implemented improved ventilation systems and screens on 1,200 buses — substantially reducing the risk for drivers and enabling passengers to once again board from the front of the bus.
Supporting communities
The pandemic marked unprecedented times for education. Schools juggled the teaching of key-worker and vulnerable children in class, while educating other pupils through home-schooling, and teachers found themselves balancing educational priorities with their duty to care. A study by UCL Institute of Education surveyed 1,653 primary teachers in England during the pandemic to gain a greater understanding of the issues involved with remote learning — particularly for disadvantaged communities — and provided recommendations for how catch-up funding should be allocated.
With theatres, cinemas and music venues all closing their doors, communities were deprived of the cultural experiences so important to wellbeing. A collaboration between the University of Liverpool, arts organisations and NHS providers demonstrated the importance of access to cultural activities in overcoming isolation. The study found that exposure to the arts during lockdowns led to higher levels of wellbeing, and highlighted how the digital divide meant many vulnerable people remained excluded.
Researchers at the University of Bristol and Imperial College London helped get live music back up and running by investigating the transmission risk of playing musical instruments. The found playing brass and woodwind transmitted fewer aerosols than singing or even speaking at high volumes.
Protecting the most vulnerable
Pressures on finances and social isolation meant the pandemic often put those who were already vulnerable at even greater risk. The University of Essex Autonomy Project studied the impact on human rights for care home residents restricted in their movements and visitors — and provided urgently-needed training for those working on the front line in care settings. While research by City University and Durham University informed police forces’ understanding and decision making about the rising amount of domestic abuse taking place behind locked-down doors.
Food insecurity — an issue exacerbated by the pandemic and now compounded by other issues — has led to growing use of foodbanks. According to the Trussell Trust, 1.6 million three-day emergency food supply parcels were given to people in crisis in the past year, a 19% increase from previous years. The Spareable app, created by Newcastle’s Reinventory Company, allows donors to see what’s in short supply and make a donation. Orders are then sourced from distributors offering bulk buy discounts, helping foodbanks maximise their resources and, as a result, help more people in need.
The COVID-19 pandemic created new challenges for society and heightened existing ones, but UKRI-funded research and innovation has been key to overcoming many of these hurdles. The legacy of this remarkable work continues to help us address and adapt to the ongoing issues created by the virus — and be better prepared for outbreaks of the future.
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If you’re a UK taxpayer, your contributions help fund research like this via UK Research and Innovation — the UK’s largest public funder of research — and the nine research councils. Projects in this article are funded by UKRI, often in collaboration with other funders. You can read more about what we do here.
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