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Coronavirus developments at a glance: 17-23 October

This week’s coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic from Research Professional News

Covid-19 Funder Updates

Research Professional’s Funding Insights service has updated its overviews of how the coronavirus pandemic has affected funding opportunities. Subscribers can read articles on UKRI and UK biomedical research, UK non-biomed research, European research agencies, and more.


 

UK
Universities fear they could be “penalised” financially for their contribution to fighting the Covid-19 pandemic, the head of the Russell Group of research-intensive universities has said.

Complaints about teaching and course delivery grew at several Russell Group universities during the first UK-wide lockdown, Research Professional News can reveal.

The Nuffield Council on Bioethics has raised a number of ethical concerns over plans for human challenge trials in which volunteers would be deliberately infected with Covid-19.

A member of Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies has criticised the government’s latest Covid-19 strategy, warning that it could lead to “significant numbers of deaths”.

Europe
Higher education institutions should look at a broad menu of income options to weather the “financial difficulties” they could face for years as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, the European University Association has recommended.

The Irish government has offered a rescue deal supporting researchers and doctoral students whose work has been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

France’s contact-tracing smartphone app StopCovid is to be scrapped and replaced, following an admission that smartphone users were reluctant to download it.

Australia
Fundraising efforts and commercial income in medical research have been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a report from the Association of Australian Medical Research Institutes.

University-based researchers in Australia have been living on a knife edge since the arrival of Covid-19, and a $1bn short-term fix has exposed deep-rooted problems.

Africa
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases on the African continent is rising, suggesting that a second wave might be on the way, the African Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has warned.

South Africa’s science department will receive R24 million (US$1.5m) to create jobs for unemployed graduates under the country’s economic recovery plan.

Worldwide
Canada’s International Development Research Centre has awarded funding for research to study how the coronavirus pandemic has affected food security in Africa.