Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology IZI
The consortium is conducting a Saxony-wide field study on the spread of SARS-CoV-2 through the end of December 2022. It is supported by two further, non-Saxon research institutes. The aim is to create a scientific instrument to follow the development of the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in the German Free State of Saxony on multiple levels. The field study will on the one hand serve to monitor the effectiveness of governmental measures to contain the pandemic and on the other hand support the detection and limitation of outbreak scenarios.
The samples and data collected in the field study will also be used in an accompanying research study to answer further research questions. In particular, the question is pressing as to which causes are responsible for the very different mild or aggressive course of the disease and whether there are parameters with which these different courses can be predicted.
Moreover, the research consortium reached out to all people in Saxony in several anonymous online surveys. The scientists and researchers wanted to use the experience and assessments of the population to find out more about routes of transmission, the effectiveness of the measures during the pandemic and the impact of the pandemic on the people. Saxon pupils and teachers were initially surveyed from early November 2021 to the end of the year. Thereafter, from December 2021 to March 2022, a Saxony-wide survey of the population was carried out. The project team will now model, e.g., the spread of infection and draw conclusions regarding the perception of the effectiveness of measures on the basis of the data collected.
More information: www.saxocov.de (in German only)
