IHI study funded by ESRC UKRI to investigate the burden and impact of COVID-19 in UK care homes

COVID-19 causes significant mortality in elderly and vulnerable people and spreads easily in care homes where one in seven individuals aged > 85 years live.  However, there is no surveillance for infection in care homes, nor are there systems (or research studies) monitoring the impact of the pandemic on individuals or systems.  This one-year ESRC UKRI funded study, led by Dr Laura Shallcross, will build on an existing collaboration with Four Seasons Healthcare (FSHC), and will extract weekly data on COVID-19 cases, hospital admissions, deaths and the use of disease control measures across 200 UK care homes.  Findings will be shared with FHSC, GPs and Public Health England, patients and the public, and support the national response to COVID-19.