Why 90 volunteers are set to be deliberately infected with Coronavirus in London; Plus Covid testing out of Heathrow begins

In January, up to 90 volunteers could be deliberately infected with Covid-19 in a bid to speed up development of vaccines and learn more about the virus. The group will be kept at the Royal Free hospital for two-and-a-half weeks in the world’s first ‘human challenge’ study for coronavirus. Dr Chris Chiu, from the Department of Infectious Disease at Imperial College London and lead researcher on the human challenge study tells us why this is crucial to answering some of the big questions around the new disease.

And, travel bosses have welcomed the roll-out of rapid Covid-19 testing for passengers leaving Heathrow for Italy and Hong Kong as a small ‘step in the right direction.’ The £80 test will allow them to enter the two countries without lengthy quarantine. But, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has refused to authorise the use of tests at airports on return from trips abroad, arguing that they are not effective in identifying passengers infected with the virus. Travel journalist Lisa Francesca Nand tells us airlines are calling for it to be rolled out more broadly to save the struggling industry.

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