Information on symptoms and treatments of Covid-19 is available from the Health Service Executive.

Please follow national guidelines published on the Government of Ireland website in relation to the Covid-19 coronavirus.

Translated resources to help share the messaging about Covid-19 are available in various languages from the HSE.

In line with Government of Ireland advice, Lero’s offices at UL are closed. Lero’s operations team continue to work remotely and can be contacted by email.

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UPDATES

 

07/02/2021

A new Lero-led study shows an increase of 47% in those willing to share their personal data since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study, Irish attitudes to privacy in COVID-19 times, found that there has been a huge increase in respondents, from 14% pre-pandemic to 61%, willing to share personal data including location, contacts and medical data. The research is part of the PRIVATT - Assessing Irish attitudes to privacy in times of COVID-19 project led by Lero and DCU in partnership with Adapt. Read more here.

 

14/12/2020

COVID-19 has been accompanied by a wave of misinformation that can undermine public health guidance and may even compromise public safety. Lero’s Dr Gillian Murphy of UCC and lead Researcher Dr Ciara Greene, Associate Professor in UCD School of Psychology, have been successful in their application for funding to support their research project “Inoculating against COVID-19 misinformation”.

Read more here.

 

23/11/2020

There has been a 280% increase in the number of patients attending virtual clinics with their GPs during the Covid-19 crisis, according to a nationwide survey from Lero, the Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre for Software.

Lero, a world leader in connected-health and ehealth research, commissioned RED C Research to conduct the survey from October  8th to 13th  2020. More than 1,000 people participated in the study which found that before Covid-19 only 5% of people had attended a virtual clinic with their GP, but this sky-rocketed to 19% of the adult population during the pandemic – a 280% increase. Read more here.

 

16/11/2020

A nationwide survey by Lero has found that 58% of the Irish population would support electronic voting from home in elections and referendums and an even greater number, 69%, favour the introduction of a national identity card.

Lero, a world leader in data privacy and cybersecurity research, commissioned RED C Research to conduct the survey last month. Just over 1,000 people participated in the study which found that almost six out of ten people (58%) are in favour of electronic voting from home in elections and referendums. In contrast, just one in three (30%) opposes the idea, and 12% answered ‘don’t know’. Read more here.

 

24/09/2020

Two Lero-led projects were among those to receive funding as part of the Science Foundation Ireland  COVID-19 Rapid Response Research and Innovation Programme. 

Professor Derek O’Keeffe of Lero and NUI Galway is leading a project aimed at developing technology to detect a specific cough and breath sounds associated with COVID-19. Using cough and breath sounds to identify people more likely to have COVID-19, Professor O’Keeffe and colleagues at NUI Galway, MIT and Harvard aim to reduce unnecessary testing of patients with non-specific symptoms, saving resources and time. The technology will also offer a non-invasive way to monitor the progress of patients with the disease. 

Dr Irina Tal of Lero and Dublin City University, along with colleagues in Dublin City University, Trinity College Dublin, National College of Ireland and Middlesex University London and SFI Centre Adapt, have been awarded funding to investigate how people in Ireland feel about privacy and tracking during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The interdisciplinary project called PRIVATT will use machine learning to analyse the sentiment on Irish social media about privacy during COVID-19 and will explore how existing technological solutions, including those that have been implemented in other countries, can better protect our fundamental rights and be accepted by the Irish population.

 

29/08/2020

The rapid emergence and spread of COVID-19 has created an unprecedented situation that causes a surge in demand for many things but notably for treatment, diagnosis and contact tracing to curtail the spread of viral infections. Dr Farshad Ghassemi Toosi of Lero and with his Cork Institute of Technology colleague Dr Ruairí O’Reilly identify four ways Artificial Intelligence could help minimise COVID-19 spread. Read their article in the Sunday Business Post online.

 

23/08/2020

COVID-19 has transformed customer behaviour from the way people shop to the products and services they buy. These changed shopping patterns are likely to last into the near future. They may even extend into the longer term. Rehan Iftikhar, a Research Fellow at School of Business, Maynooth University and Lero, writes in the Irish Examiner about opportunities for retailers to use social media data to adapt to changing consumer needs.

 

24/06/2020

The first results from the Covigilant research project, led by Dr Jim Buckley of Lero at UL and funded by SFI, have been released. The findings show that the vast majority of Irish adults – 82% – are willing to download a contact tracing app to their smartphone to curb the COVID-19 pandemic. However, respondents also expressed several privacy concerns, including that the Government, tech firms or hackers might use the information gathered for other purposes after the pandemic. More information is available here. Full details of the survey are due to be published at a later date.

 

26/06/2020

As Ireland moves into the next phase of its emergence from Covid-19 restrictions, Professor Markus Helfert of Lero at Maynooth University, outlines some of the long-term changes in customer behaviour and expectations that are transforming the retail sector. His article is published in The Irish Times,

 

09/06/2020

A project led by Lero, the SFI Research Centre for Software, at University of Limerick is one of 11 new COVID-19 research and innovation projects to receive investment, it has been announced.  

Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Heather Humphreys TD announced a total investment of €1.4 million in 11 projects under the SFI-coordinated research and innovation response to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

COVIGILANT, led by Dr Jim Buckley of Lero and University of Limerick, in collaboration with Professor Liam Glynn of UL Graduate Entry Medical School and Professor Derek O'Keeffe of NUI Galway, will gather evidence to inform and optimise Ireland’s digital contact-tracing strategy and practice.
The research will carry out large-scale public surveys to capture end-user perceptions of digital contact tracing, to identify barriers people may have to using contact-tracing apps and thus, to tailor information campaigns. It will also review a range of existing contact-tracing apps, to determine best practice and identify design modifications to inform updates to the HSE’s chosen digital contact-tracing solution.

More information here.

 

26/05/2020

In an article published in ShelfLife.ie, Artem Bielozorov of Lero at Maynooth University, outlines the practices that will continue to affect the grocery retail industry after Covid-19 restrictions pass.

 

15/05/2020

In an article published in The Irish Times, Dr Veeresh Thummadi of Lero at UL reminds managers and organisations that a global pandemic does not represent an ordinary work-from-home context and employers need to handle the situation with diligence and care.  

 

11/05/2020

Driverless cars and automotive technology could play a key role in managing future pandemics, according to an article written by Tim Jannusch, Dr Martin Mullins and Dr Martin Cunneen of Lero, the SFI Research Centre for Software and the Emerging Risk Group (ERG) at UL. The article was published in motoring and technology media and Dr Martin Cunneen was interviewed on the topic on Limerick’s Live 95 Radio.

 

05/05/2020

Early stage researchers from Lero at Maynooth University and PERFORM, a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Training Network, have recorded a video advising how retailers can survive and thrive through Covid-19.

 

01/05/2020

Lero’s Professor Regina Connolly of Dublin City University discusses the need for any national contact-tracing app to be limited and transparent, saying it raises many questions and could have serious consequences for privacy protection. Her article is published by the Business Post here.

 

23/04/2020

Lero and Maynooth University PhD student Artem Bielozorov advises small businesses on how to quickly build an online business presence in an article published on Silicon Republic.

Regardless how big or robust your business is, establishing a strong online presence has never been more important. It allows businesses to engage and interact with a wider audience, helps them understand their customers’ needs and tailor a quick and relevant response. More importantly, it may generate vital cash flow for businesses struggling now during the Covid-19 pandemic and in the future when the current restrictions are lifted. Read the full article on the Silicon Republic website here.

 

09/04/2020

Lero researchers, including the centre’s chief scientist, Professor Bashar Nuseibeh of University of Limerick and the Open University, are carrying out a survey to understand how residents of the island of Ireland manage Covid-19 online. The survey explores prosocial behaviour and online platform use during a time of ‘social distancing’ due to the novel Coronavirus, Covid-19. Please take part in the survey here: https://openss.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bIRV3SLSHgTMbgF

 

02/04/2020

Since Covid-19 arrived in Ireland, businesses and other organisations have been contacting Government and the HSE to offer their assistance with goods and services. A webpage has now been created to capture these offers in one central database, so that Government can ensure they are available to the right parts of the public service. The Office of Government Procurement recently launched a webpage to facilitate offers of assistance from businesses and other organisations that are seeking to provide supplies or services in support of the national response to Covid-19. The webpage is available at: gov.ie/covidsupplies

 

27/03/2020

Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), Enterprise Ireland (EI), and IDA Ireland have launched a joint rapid-response call to fund research, development, and innovation (RD&I) activities that will deliver significant and timely impact for Ireland within the context of the current Covid-19 emergency.

The call is an agile and adaptive initiative to support development of innovative solutions (including STEM-based, social/behavioural science) that can have rapid demonstrable impact on the current COVID-19 crisis in Ireland.

More information is available from the SFI website.

 

25/03/2020

The Health Research Board in association with the Irish Research Council has opened a rapid response mechanism to fund research that will provide evidence for the national and global efforts to deal with Covid-19. The closing date is April 7th. More information from the HRB website.