Covid-19: The University of Antwerp involved at the European level

24/04/2020

The University of Antwerp has been chosen to lead the new European "RECOVER" project.

The project activities were launched on 10 March in Amsterdam, at a meeting that brought together international partners, the European Commission, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and the European Medicines Agency.

The project will address the most pressing public health issues by conducting medical research to fill key knowledge gaps and provide a clear picture of the nature of the virus. One of the objectives of this research will be to better understand the transmission of the virus within households and to analyse the impact of the measures taken to mitigate it. Another will study the extent to which children may or may not contribute to the spread of the virus. Recommendations will also be made to protect the health of those on the front line in the fight against Covid-19. The objective is therefore to provide useful scientific knowledge for clinical experts, health authorities and policy makers to determine the best approach for limiting the transmission of the virus.

Herman Goossens, coordinator of RECOVER and professor at the University of Antwerp, expressed his gratitude to the EU for supporting initiatives to fight this new epidemic and looked forward to working with European and Chinese partners to deepen their knowledge and, together, better tackle the virus.