Virus Watch

Virus Watch will provide data relevant to a wide range of audiences involved in pandemic response. Virus Watch has collected personal and special category data.

Baseline survey – the baseline survey collects basic demographic information including sex, date of birth, age in years, ethnicity. It also includes details of the household structure, socioeconomic status including household income. The survey also collects health data used for the study including existing medical conditions (general and COVID-related) and access to health during the pandemic.

Weekly survey – the weekly survey collects data about any illnesses within the household during each week and the results of any COVID tests performed. The survey collects information on behaviours during illness of the household. Since Jan 2021, the weekly survey has also collected data on vaccination status of household members.

Monthly surveys – the monthly surveys collect regular data on contact patterns of household throughout the pandemic, regardless of symptoms or illnesses in the household. Each month additional bespoke questions have been asked in the monthly surveys in order to inform important policy questions at the time.

Laboratory data – the laboratory data includes information on the results of antibody tests for a subset of participants including nucleocapsid and spike antibody levels. It also includes PCR results for participants that took part in home COVID testing for Virus Watch.