The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) in Australia will provide an additional $2 million of funding for COVID-19 research.

The funding is for nine critical COVID-19 research projects as part of the Australian Partnership for Preparedness Research on Infectious Disease Emergencies (APPRISE).

The nine projects cover a range of research areas, with aims such as:

• understanding the number of people in Australia who have been exposed to the COVID-19 virus (SARS-CoV-2) using a blood test
• strengthening clinical trials including an interventional study in intensive care patients and observational studies, including children
• point-of-care testing for influenza and COVID-19 in nursing homes
• understanding the prevalence and understanding of COVID-19 in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Professor Sharon Lewin, Director of the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity (Doherty Institute), a joint venture of the University of Melbourne and Royal Melbourne Hospital, and chief investigator for APPRISE said the projects are all focused on research to inform the national and international COVID-19 response.