People living in Croydon who have previously tested positive for Covid-19 are being urged to take part in a key new study that hopes to unravel one of the most crucial questions posed by the virus.
The government-affiliated Genomics England are running the study, which aims to discover why some people suffer serious symptoms of coronavirus while others only experience light symptoms or even none at all.
From Saturday (April 24) the project will launch temporary centres set up in Croydon, Hounslow, Lambeth, Barking and Barnet and open their doors to volunteers who experienced mild or no Covid symptoms and are willing to take part.
They can do so by donating blood, which will then be analysed by Genomics England as part of their inquiry into the mysteries of the varying degrees of seriousness the virus poses to people who contract it.
"The unique GenOMICC COVID-19 Study analyses the genes of people who have had the virus to discover why some experienced no symptoms while others became extremely ill," a spokesperson for the group said.
"The study is already contributing to the fight again COVID, with preliminary results helping identify possible new treatments.
"However, for the study to continue to make progress, the scientists urgently need to recruit 2,500 more people from all backgrounds," they added.
Genomics England said that, with mounting evidence that serious coronavirus cases disproportionately impact people from Black and Asian minorities, it hoped people from those communities in particular would volunteer.
Indeed, the study is backed by a number of minority groups including Muslim Engagement and Development (MEND), and Coalition of Race Equality Organisations (CORE).
"As CORE, we represent a coalition of 27 ethnic minority led organisations across the UK," said Karun Maudgil, development officer at CORE.
"We welcome the pop up donation centres, in that they will provide greater clarity as to why members of the ethnic minority communities we represent, who were disproportionately impacted in terms of COVID-19 infection, hospitalisation and death rates, experienced varying degrees of symptoms - ranging from asymptomatic to fatal."
Croydon University NHS Hospital are also backing the scheme.
Dr Sundar Raj Ashok, a consultant intensivist and anaesthetist at the hospital who has worked on the frontlines of the pandemic, said:
"The past year has been exceptionally difficult for everyone – here in London more than 700,000 people caught COVID-19 and, tragically, 19,000 lost their lives.
"The remarkable diligence of the community and healthcare workers prevented even more tragedy - but it’s research that holds the key to long term solutions.
"Over the past year, more than a hundred of my patients in Croydon University Hospital's intensive care took part in this research, knowing it may help save lives and improve recovery.
"Now the wider public can join too and help beat the virus."
The research project is open to anyone who tested positive to COVID but experienced mild or no symptoms and didn’t require hospital treatment – volunteers can register online here.
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