MRC Centre at the Forefront:

The last 10 days have seen Centre and DIDE staff and students put in an amazing effort to help collate often sketchy data on the unfolding outbreak, undertaking vital early analyses, and work with key collaborators in the UK and around the world assisting them as they manage their response to the epidemic. I have been incredibly pround to be part of this effort - I can categorically say that no other University research group has had a larger impact on how this epidemic has been and continues to be investigated and managed around the world.

I thought it might therefore be useful to emphasise that (regardless of what the media may report), this pandemic has barely started, that there remain huge uncertainties about its potential impact (in terms of morbidity and mortality) and the time scale this will occur over. We will need to remain closely engaged with public health bodies around the world for weeks and months ahead, quite possibly to the end of the year - and this will include having staff located in Geneva and Atlanta.

A big thank you to everyone for their good nature and forebearance during this period!