COVID-19 hub

UK Biobank has taken swift strides to help tackle the global pandemic by undertaking four major initiatives - serology study, COVID-19 repeat imaging study, coronavirus self-test antibody study and health data linkage. Find out more about each project below.

Serology study

The study

Measuring antibodies for the coronavirus which causes COVID-19 over six months revealed the proportion of the population that had been infected.

Recruitment

20,000 UK Biobank participants, their children and grandchildren (aged over 18) living in separate households, were selected to take part.

Samples

We collected and analysed blood samples and information from participants of this study and 90% of participants returned samples every month.

Final results

The 20,000 volunteers, a combination of existing UK Biobank participants and their children and grandchildren aged over 18, helped produce results that are representative of the UK population.

One of the most significant findings of the study is that 99% of participants who had tested positive for previous infection retained antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 for 3 months after being infected, and 88% did so for the full 6 months of the study. This discovery provides an early indication that the antibodies produced following natural infection may protect most people against subsequent infection for at least 6 months.

Overall in the study, 6.6% of the participants had been infected previously in May/June 2020 and this rose to 8.8% by the end of November 2020. These rates did not differ in men and women. However the rates were higher in younger people, ranging from 13.5% in those under 30 to 6.7% in those over 70.

SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence was most common in London (12.4%) and least common in Scotland (5.5%) and highest among participants of Black ethnicity (16.3%) and lowest among those of White (8.5%) and Chinese ethnicities (7.5%).

These data will be added to the UK Biobank database and research resource, enabling scientists globally to conduct further research into how SARS-CoV-2 infection affects health over the longer-term. You can find out more about these results by watching on-demand content for a participant event we held on 17th February. Please follow this link .

Thank you to everyone taking part.

Thank you to the 88,000 participants and their 15,000 family members who volunteered for the study to test antibodies. We were over-whelmed by the response and sorry that we could not include everybody – but your support at this time of crisis is very much appreciated

Professor Sir Rory Collins, UK Biobank Principal Investigator

Related news

UK Biobank study shows that COVID-19 antibodies remain for at least 6 months post-infection for the vast majority of people who have had the virus

February 3^rd 2021

Full report: month 1 Full report: month 6

Coronavirus self-test antibody study

Adding another layer of detail

The UK Biobank is inviting all participants to take part in the coronavirus self-test antibody study to help urgent research on the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus that causes COVID-19. Findings from this study will provide researchers with unique opportunities to investigate the long-term health effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection (“Long COVID”) and other health research related to COVID-19. The study is taking part in two phases - phase 1 is running from February to March 2021 whilst phase 2 will be starting in mid-March 2021.

Find out more about phase 1

COVID-19 repeat imaging study

Understanding how coronavirus affects internal organs

The UK Biobank COVID-19 repeat imaging study aims to scan more than 3,000 people over the next 6 to 9 months. Thanks to your help, we collected imaging scans from about 50,000 participants before the COVID-19 pandemic occurred. Collecting a second set of imaging scans from some people who have been infected with SARS-CoV-2 and from others who have not been infected will generate a unique resource to enable scientists to understand how the virus affects internal organs.

Find out more

Professor Sir Rory Collins, UK Biobank Principal Investigator

Participants generosity will be repaid many times over by the research community in the months and years ahead, as we learn more about the impact of the devastating coronavirus illness on different people, and how to treat it.

Health data linkage

Health data available to tackle COVID-19

Crucial data on the health of 500,000 UK Biobank participants are being made available on a regular basis to registered researchers worldwide to undertake vital research into the genetic and lifestyle determinants of COVID-19 and its long-term health consequences.

Data from the following health records are available: