Covid-IP examines the state of the immune system by sampling blood from patients when they are admitted to one of the Covid-IP wards at St Thomas’ Hospital, having proved positive on a test for the virus, and having displayed associated symptoms. Samples are taken again after 3 days, at about which time those who quickly recover will be discharged.

Those patients should allow us to identify correlates of protection.  For those who are not discharged, blood is sampled again after 9 days. By this time, some will have recovered, albeit more slowly, while others will have gone into decline, requiring treatment in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).  Their samples may therefore reveal correlates of pathology.

As “controls”, we sample bloods from healthy individuals, although such is the spread of SARS-CoV-2 that among our controls we find persons who have been asymptomatically infected.  Those individuals may have very strong correlates of protection.  Conversely, other comparisons can be made with individuals admitted straight to the ICU, who may have very strong correlates of pathology.

We are very grateful to all individuals who agreed to take part in this study.