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Coronavirus developments at a glance—28 April

Publishers join forces and questions over Commission transparency

In depth: Dyson’s withdrawal from the UK’s Covid-19 Ventilator Challenge raises questions about scheme management and the number of NHS machines. Our HE editor probes the issue.

Full storyA blow to Dyson as government figures don’t stack up


 

Worldwide
Several academic publishers are working together to try to maximise the efficiency of peer review during the coronavirus pandemic. In an open letter sent on 27 April, the Royal Society, eLife, Hindawi, PeerJ, PLOS, F1000 Research, FAIRsharing, Outbreak Science, and PREreview, said the Covid-19 pandemic had created a “new urgency” to openly and rapidly share and review research on the virus.

Europe
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the EU R&D commissioner, Mariya Gabriel, broke the institution’s lobbying transparency rules in March by communicating with a German vaccine company that was not then registered on the EU’s Transparency Register.

Several hundred scientists in Germany have spoken out against the disadvantages faced by younger researchers with children, caused by the country’s lockdown policies resulting from the coronavirus pandemic.

UK
MPs on the cross-party House of Commons science and technology committee have pressed for more privacy and security information on an NHS app that is being built to help track and trace Covid-19 infections.

The interim chief medical officer for Scotland has said that openness over Scottish advice on Covid-19 has not brought any problems with security or lobbying.

Almost half of potential international students do not want to study online despite the coronavirus pandemic causing problems for international travel, a survey has revealed. And almost 80 per cent of students feel confident about getting a graduate-level job despite the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the job market.