COVID-19 data

Facilitating COVID-19 research

To facilitate rapid research into the determinants and consequences of COVID-19, we made the following health record data available on a regular basis during 2020 and 2021: 

• • Diagnostic COVID-19 test data 
  • GP (primary care) data for England provided directly by the system suppliers
  • Hospital inpatient data for England & Scotland, including critical care date for England
  • Death data 

The above will continue to made available to researchers, albeit on a less frequent basis (see current censoring dates and future timelines), with the exception of the GP data specifically for COVID-19 research, which has seen its Control of Patient Information (COPI) notice expire. No further primary care data will be received by UK Biobank for the specific purpose of COVID-19 research.

These health linkage data, combined with the extensive data already collected on lifestyle and genetic factors on UK Biobank participants will enable research into: 

• The extent to which genetic factors are related to disease severity 
• How sociodemographic and lifestyle factors, including underlying health conditions, are related to disease severity
• The longer-term morbidity and mortality outcomes for those individuals diagnosed with COVID-19