ALSPAC is well-placed to contribute to the national/international Covid-19 research effort given it has an extensive archive of data about participants health and wellbeing and circumstances prior to the Covid-19 outbreak and is now collecting data specifically related to Covid-19. These data can be used with our biobank and genetic data.

This project seeks to enhance these data with NHS and other Covid-19 records. These will bring timely information about symptoms, help-seeking and care and disease outcomes. It will allow ALSPAC to look at Covid-19 specific health (i.e. the health of those with the virus) and wider general physical and mental health (which may be impacted by stretched NHS resources during the outbreak, or due to the 'lock-down' and social distancing).

This data will sit alongside the other health records ALSPAC have collected. The same security mechanisms will be used to keep the data confidential, and ALSPAC will not extract records from participants who have objected to this use of their data.

The records will be sourced from:

1) A new NHS national (English) repository of Covid-19 data (GP records, Hospital Records, Pharmacy data, NHS 111 call records, Ambulance Records, Mortality Records, Covid-19 testing records).
2) Respiratory care records from databases at NHS University Hospital Bristol Trust and NHS North Bristol Trust hospitals.
3) Records from the 'Zoe' symptom tracker app.

ALSPAC will immediately use the data to help understand more about the factors that influence the susceptibility and severity of Covid-19. We will also examine whether Blood Group and the FUT2 gene (and other genes) are associated with Covid-19 susceptibility.