Virus Watch testing kit, containing HSL COVID Request form, safety bag and absorbent pad made by DaklaPack, clear plastic bag, sealed swab and tube with Sigma Virocult transport medium, made by MWE (Medical Wire), and cardboard box addressed to FAO Virus Watch Study, given to volunteer Lisa Syne, 2021

Virus Watch is a study of how COVID-19 spreads in communities in England and Wales. Run by University College London and the NHS, the study, households were invited to take part. The study aims to look at the symptoms and risk factors for COVID-19, behaviours associated with coronavirus infections and vaccination, and immunity rates to COVID-19.

Between June 2020 and August 2021, over 50,000 people have contributed to the study via weekly and monthly surveys with 10,000 people carrying out swab tests, like the one in this kit. The study helped researchers understand the ways in which symptoms changed across people's experience with COVID-19, the impact of essential activities on transmission of coronavirus and the impact of long COVID in children. Results also found that household overcrowding doubled the risk of a confirmed case of COVID-19.

Between September 2021 and June 2022, 20,000 adults and their households took short regular surveys and finger prick blood tests every other month to study their immune response to COVID-19 vaccines.

Studies rely on volunteers coming forward and giving their time to carry out surveys, swabs and prick tests. Each person is informed on the aims of the study, the potential outcomes and any risks to their personal health. For Virus Watch, participants were able to leave the study at any time they wished.