The Pandemic Revolutionized Disease Surveillance. Now What?

March 28, 2022

(Wired) – For the past two years, the hottest data set in the United Kingdom has dropped every Friday. Scientists, journalists, and amateur data sleuths all dial up one specific website: The Covid-19 Infection Survey, run by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), an independent government agency. With 180,000 participants who are swabbed every fortnight, it is one of the largest surveys of coronavirus infections and antibodies in the UK. It monitors how many people are infected with Covid at any one time and whether specific regions or age groups are at particular risk. Because it samples such a large and randomized slice of the population, it avoids biases from local changes in testing guidance, individual behavior, or access to tests. (Read More)