The NIHR and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) are calling for new research proposals on the risk factors, transmission and prevalence of the COVID-19 virus SARS-CoV-2.

It is hoped that the research funded will help inform policy decisions during the pandemic, 'including possible decisions about infection prevention strategies and relaxation of existing containment measures'.

Research proposals are being sought on risk factors for transmission, which groups are most likely to become infected and in what environments transmissions occur.

In particular, there is a need for new research to understand risk factors, transmission and prevalence of the virus in groups at high risk of infection, in particular health and social care workers and residents in nursing and residential care homes.

The groups point to emerging evidence of a potentially higher risk of coronavirus infection in healthcare workers in different roles and among staff and residents of nursing and residential homes.

'Understanding the levels of infection (including asymptomatic) in these groups, relative to the general population, and the factors that are driving this will be critical for reducing transmission, morbidity and mortality,' they note.