**Page updated 12-03-2021**
The RSS Covid-19 Task Force brings together the Society's collective expertise relevant to the Covid-19 crisis and support best statistical practice in areas such as data collection, diagnostic or treatment studies, modelling and forecasting. It also seeks to inform the public around key statistical issues relating to the pandemic.
In addition to the activities below, there is also a list of RSS web pages relating to our Covid-19 work.
Media
- The weekly stats uncovered (David Spiegelhalter and RSS statistics ambassador Anthony Masters, for The Observer, published weekly)
- Has vaccine roll-out cut Covid deaths in Wales? (Jennifer Rogers speaks to the BBC, 15 February 2021)
- We need a randomized study of the UK’s decision to defer second doses of the mRNA vaccine, (Sheila Bird for Significance magazine, 11 February 2021)
- Vaccine rollouts, school testing and contact tracing could all be improved – here’s how (Sylvia Richardson for The Conversation, 5 February 2021)
- Covid-19 INNOVA testing in schools: don’t just test, evaluate (Jon Deeks, Sylvia Richardson, Sheila Bird, Deborah Ashby & Mike Gill for the BMJ, 12 January 2021)
- Letter to the Times on the use of lateral flow tests in schools (Stian Westlake, 6 January 2021)
- How many Covid infections are acquired in hospitals? This is what the data shows (Jennifer Rogers for ITV News, 9 November 2020)
- Test and trace in England is shaping up as a design and discovery fiasco (Sheila Bird for the BMJ, 1 October 2020)
- Task force letter to the Times regarding concerns over the ‘moonshot’ testing plans (11 September 2020)
- Task Force letter to the Guardian on the need for greater government transparency (7 August 2020)
- Task Force members are regular contributors to the BBC Radio 4 programme More or Less and the Science Media Centre expert reactions, for example:
Further details of the Task Force's press coverage is on the RSS in the Media page.
Resources
**Recent activities of members of the Task Force and the RSS **
- New funding for national consortium to model COVID-19 pandemic (18 February 2021)
- Discharges from hospitals to care homes: is there evidence of risk? (technical note by John MacInnes and Li Su, published 8 Feb 2021)
- Covid-19 FAQs (published by the RSS at rss.org.uk/covid-19-faqs, 27 January 2021)
- Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee inquiry into Covid-19 data transparency and accountability (evidence from Sylvia Richardson, 23 November 2020)
- Antibody tests may help detect COVID-19 infection - if used at right time (research led by Jon Deeks, 25 June 2020)
- Lords Science and Technology Committee inquiry into the Science of COVID-19 (Sheila Bird and Jon Deeks give evidence on testing, 9 June 2020)
- Success of test, trace and isolate programmes depends on speed, compliance and monitoring (DELVE Report advised and supported by Sylvia Richardson and Peter Diggle, published by the Royal Society, 27 May 2020)
- On the independent evaluation of Abbott and Roche SARS-CoV-2 antibody tests (PDF), published by RSS, 22 May 2020, and quoted by Science Media Centre
- David Spiegelhalter: oral evidence on statistics in the coronavirus pandemic (UK House of Commons Science and Technology select committee, 12 May 2020)
- Simon Briscoe: The many definitions of a Covid-19 death toll (PDF - published by RSS, 4 May 2020)
- Peter Diggle: Covid-19 testing strategy - why random sampling matters (published by Health Data Research UK, 14 April 2020)
- RSS Statistical Ambassadors: A statistician's guide to coronavirus numbers (published by RSS, 1 April 2020)
Official correspondence and statements
**Official correspondence and statements from the Covid-19 Task Force, or other Sections or Groups of the RSS **
- Letter to MHRA on Covid-19 testing in schools, 12 March 2021
- Statement on the need for transparency about secondary pupils’ uptake of Lateral Flow Testing, PCR-corroboration, cycle-threshold-values (proxy for viral load) & genomic analyses, 5 March 2021
- Statement on how best to track the Covid-19 vaccine roll-out, 18 December 2020
- Statement on proposed Covid-19 schools testing programme, 18 December 2020. Written by Jon Deeks on behalf of the Working Group on Diagnostic Tests
- New partnership with The Alan Turing Institute and Royal Statistical Society to support Joint Biosecurity Centre COVID-19 response GOV.UK press release, 21 October 2020
- Statement on how efficient statistical method can glean intelligence from Test, Trace and Isolate with accompanying technical appendix, issued on 23 July 2020
- Covid-19 statistical issues for lower and middle income countries (PDF), a briefing note from the RSS International Development Section, published by RSS, 1 June
- Statement issued on 4 May 2020, on the reporting of results from home swab test kits (PDF)
- Statement issued on 14 April 2020 (PDF) responds to the criteria that the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Authority expects to be met by an acceptable point-of-care antibody test for coronavirus
- Letter issued on 13 April 2020, on possible criteria for antibody sensitivity and specificity assurance (PDF), from David Spiegelhalter to the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Authority on behalf of the RSS Task Force
- RSS alerts Ofqual to the statistical issues relating to exam grading and assessment in 2020 (PDF - published by RSS, 9 April 2020)