news 2020

Healthcare workers are seven times as likely to have severe COVID-19 infection as those with other types of 'non-essential' jobs, finds research led by the University of Glasgow which focused on the first UK-wide lockdown The study, which is published in the journal Occupational & Environmental Medicine, found those with jobs in the social care and transport sectors are twice as likely to have severe COVID-19, emphasising the need to ensure that essential (key) workers are adequately protected against the infection, say the researchers.

A new study suggests that individuals who have previously had COVID-19 are highly unlikely to contract the illness again, for at least six months following their first infection. The study, done as part of a major collaboration between the University of Oxford and Oxford University Hospitals (OUH) NHS Foundation Trust, was published today as a pre-print.

Primary care networks need to increase the engagement of GP practices and wider primary care teams, and strengthen their leadership and management, to become firmly established to meet the challenges ahead, says a new study by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) BRACE Rapid Evaluation Centre undertaken by researchers at the University of Birmingham and RAND Europe.

The first study to establish the risk of COVID-19 to care workers across Wales is to launch today. The pandemic is thought to have had a major impact on the health of the 20,000 workers who offer personal care and support to the elderly or people with life-limiting conditions in their own homes. The study, led by Cardiff University, in partnership with Public Health Wales and Swansea University and supported by Social Care Wales, is funded by UK Research and Innovation.

Climate change researchers, especially professors, fly more than other researchers - but are also more likely to have taken steps to reduce or offset their flying, a new study has found. The large, international survey of more than 1,400 university researchers was carried out by the UK Centre for Climate and Social Transformation (CAST), which is coordinated by Cardiff University.

Negative feelings resulting from perceived broken promises from employers within UK police forces are a major cause of workplace stress, according to new research at the University of Birmingham. In a study of police officers, researchers from the University's School of Psychology found that employees who perceive a violation of their psychological contract - the negative emotional reactions in response to perceived broken promises at work - are at greater risk of job-related stress, anxiety and depression.

Research from the University of Birmingham has concluded that the process of giving to charity has to be grounded in evidence rather than reaction.

Nine out of ten employees who have worked at home during lockdown would like to continue doing so in some capacity, research suggests. The report, by academics at Cardiff University and the University of Southampton, presents the first analysis of employee survey data focusing on homeworking, which was gathered for the Understanding Society Covid-19 Study.

Lockdown has also had a disproportionately negative impact on parents, especially mothers, with a majority noting that they have been carrying out more housework and care New research from the University of Kent and the University of Birmingham has found that mass homeworking during the COVID-19 lockdown has presented significant challenges for parents, particularly mothers, but has also changed the way that many people intend to work in the future.

An independent review into the deaths of London bus drivers from COVID-19, led by the UCL Institute of Health Equity suggests an earlier lockdown would have saved lives. The review also shows that many of the drivers who died had underlying health conditions that put them at greater risk during the pandemic.

An independent review into the deaths of London bus drivers from COVID-19, led by the UCL Institute of Health Equity suggests an earlier lockdown would have saved lives The review also shows that many of the drivers who died had underlying health conditions that put them at greater risk  greater risk during the pandemic.

Researchers from the Department of Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford have developed a new mental health treatment programme to provide frontline healthcare workers with 1-to-1 support, including fast-track access to PTSD or depression treatment. This evidence-based programme, called SHAPE Recovery , builds on an outreach programme shown to reduce rates of PTSD and depression.

Low-income workers are almost twice as likely to be laid-off or furloughed as high-income workers, according to a new UCL study examining income and consumption effects of Covid-19. The working paper, published by Puey Ungphakorn Institute for Economic Research , highlights that a significant proportion of those low-income workers - 70 percent from the bottom fifth of the income distribution - have struggled to afford living costs.

Wales's lowest earners were ten times more likely to have been affected by the Covid-19 shutdown than those on the highest salaries, research shows. The briefing paper from Cardiff University's Wales Governance Centre says almost half of those bringing home the smallest incomes were working in jobs that were forced to stop due to the lockdown.

The University of Glasgow has committed to supporting international partners with a series of high-impact research collaborations to help mitigate the global health impacts of COVID-19. Researchers from across the University have been awarded funding totally £710,330 from the Global Challenges COVID-19 Rapid Response Research Fund to undertake short-term research projects to urgently assist partners in Colombia, Uganda, Tanzania and Malawi respond to COVID-19.

Activity levels during lockdown in Britain's busiest regions including Greater London, Greater Manchester and the West Midlands have begun to rebound following successive week-by-week declines, according to new UCL analysis of geographical data. Combining in-app mobile data with demographic indicators, the researchers found that activity levels - defined as the number of unique mobile devices used per hour in each study area - declined during the first five weeks of lockdown, but have ticked up since the 19 th April.

Millennials from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds are 47% more likely to be on a zero-hours contract, compared to their White peers, according to a new report from the UCL Centre for Longitudinal Studies, Carnegie UK Trust, and Operation Black Vote Millennials from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds are 47% more likely to be on a zero-hours contract, and have 10% greater odds of working a second job, compared to their White peers, according to a new report from the UCL Centre for Longitudinal Studies, Carnegie UK Trust, and Operation Black Vote.

The introduction of the minimum wage for the first time in Germany in 2015 drove workers from smaller to larger and more productive businesses that pay higher wages, according to a UCL and Institute for Employment Research (IAB) Nuremberg study. The study, published as a CReAM discussion paper, is the most comprehensive analysis of the wider implications of Germany's minimum wage policy.