COVID-19 Resources

This page provides clinical evidence, advice for professionals and employers, and infection control resources related to COVID-19, from a range of sources. Please email [email protected] to suggest materials for inclusion.

Latest updates

UK Government Guidance EMG: Role of screens and barriers in mitigating COVID-19 transmission [added 21 October 2021]
COVID-19 and animals [RCVS Knowledge, inFOCUS journal watch] (last updated 26 April 2023)
COVID-19 mythbusting: webinars and podcasts providing quick and concise answers to common queries from the veterinary profession [RCVS Knowledge] (last updated 10 February 2021)
FAQs Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in veterinary practice during the COVID-19 pandemic [PDF 252 KB] (last updated 17 December 2020)
Complete Infection Control Boxset including Part 1: Infection control and biosecurity during COVID-19, Part 2: Organisms of concern and modes of transport, Part 3: Policies and procedures in routine practice, Part 4: Disinfectant types and Part 5: Auditing infection control. The hub includes webinars, podcasts, transcripts, case examples and further reading. (last updated 28th May 2020)

1. Veterinary advice and updates

AVA Guideline: How to use less oxygen [guideline from the Association of Veterinary Anaesthetists]
AVA Guideline: How to use TIVA: total intravenous anaesthesia involves IV administration of drug(s) to produce anaesthesia [guideline from the Association of Veterinary Anaesthetists]
AVMA COVID-19: what veterinarians need to know information and resources to assist veterinary professionals with responses to questions from their clients and their teams
AVMA Guidelines for use of personal protective equipment (PPE) during the COVID-19 pandemic when demand exceeds supply
AVTRW Announcement on COVID-19
BCVA Covid-19 best practice - cattle vets
BEVA Coronavirus COVID-19
BSAVA Advice and resources regarding COVID-19 updates and information to support vets and RVNs in practice
BSAVA triage tool for cats and dogs
BSAVA COVID-19: Anaesthesia Resources [to address the concerns related to potential oxygen shortages - a collection of resources relating to anaesthesia, including TIVA and anaesthetic monitoring. Free to access until the end of June]
BVA Coronavirus information hub includes guidance and advice for all sectors of the veterinary profession as well as FAQs and webinars
Davies Veterinary Specialists Oxygen conservation: reducing oxygen use during anaesthesia [includes fact sheet, infographic and webinar on Low Flow Anaesthesia]
Davies Veterinary Specialists Understand how capnography can help anaesthetists [includes information and webinar on Capnography]
ECDPC COVID-19 [latest situation update worldwide from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control]
FECAVA Advice for companion animal practitioners during the COVID-19 outbreak
FECAVA Advice for pet owners for visiting your vet during the COVID-19 outbreak
FEV COVID-19 & the veterinary profession (FAQs)
RCVS Coronavirus: COVID-19 latest updates including FAQs to the most common queries from veterinary professionals to assist veterinary practices with decision-making
RCVS Covid-19 Survey 2020 by the Institute for Employment Studies of UK-practising veterinary surgeons and veterinary nurses during the Covid-19 pandemic
RCVS surveys on the economic impact of Covid-19 on veterinary clinical practices:

Summary of findings from the Covid-19 Impact Surveys with veterinary surgeons and veterinary nurses [January 2022]

Impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on veterinary nurses [January 2022]

results from RCVS survey #6, carried out between 25 February-4 March 2021

results from RCVS survey #5, carried out between 25 November-1 December 2020

results from RCVS survey #4, carried out between 1-7 September 2020

results from RCVS survery #3, carried out between 12-16 June 2020

results from RCVS survey #2, carried out between 1-5 May 2020

results from RCVS survey #1, carried out between 3-7 April 2020

RCVS Knowledge with Alan Radford takes a look at the science of the virus Eye on EBVM: the science of coronavirus VN Times, 20 (5), p. 10
WSAVA COVID-19 - advice and resources collated by WSAVA One Health and Scientific Committees for use by all small animal veterinarians.

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2. Infection control and biosecurity resources from the veterinary professions

2.1 Infection control guidelines

Complete Infection Control Boxset including Part 1: Infection control and biosecurity during COVID-19, Part 2: Organisms of concern and modes of transport, Part 3: Policies and procedures in routine practice, Part 4: Disinfectant types and Part 5: Auditing infection control. The hub includes webinars, podcasts, transcripts, case examples and further reading. (Last updated 28th May 2020)
BCVA: COVID-19 Best Practice for Cattle Vets [PDF 144 KB] (updated 27 March 2020)
Blue Cross: Guidelines during COVID-19 [PDF 553 KB] (updated 26 March 2020)
CVS (UK) Ltd: Resources from CVS (UK) Ltd: Infection control guidelines and cleaning checklists [PDF 138 KB] (updated 30 March 2020)
Medivet: Infection control when taking payments [PDF 434 KB] (updated 30 March 2020)
University of Edinburgh - Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies: Hand wash and gel techniques [PDF 160 KB] (updated 30 March 2020) Please note hand rub/gel is for use where there isn’t access to soap and water and the hands are not soiled
Vets Now Flowcharts for Social Distancing during COVID-19 [PDF 1428 KB] (updated 17 April 2020)

2.2 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Guidelines

FAQs Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in veterinary practice during the COVID-19 pandemic [PDF 252 KB] (updated 17 December 2020)
CVS - Guidance on preparations to support the NHS with potential PPE requirements whilst maintaining the safety of our colleagues and patients during the COVID-19 pandemic [PDF 214 KB] (updated 6 April 2020)

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3. Free access to the evidence

3.1 Reviewing the evidence
3.2 Journal collections
3.3 Online learning

3.1 Reviewing the evidence

British Medical Journa [BMJ] Best Practice Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) topics including: Summary; Theory, Diagnosis; Management; Follow up; Resources, regularly updated [view PDF copy]
Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine [CEBM] Oxford COVID-19 Evidence Service - rapid reviews of primary care questions relating to the COVID-19 pandemic, regularly updated

Cochrane Coronavirus (COVD-19) resources and news content and related activities that Cochrane is undertaking
Cochrane Special Collections Reviews on COVID-19 - relating to the prevention and treatment of COVID-19. These Special Collections are updated in response to new information.
[European] Advisory Board on Cat Diseases [ABCD] Guidelines on SARS-Coronavirus (CoV)-2 and cats
European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control Control COVID-19 situation updates
Joanna Briggs Institute COVID-19 Special Collection - evidence summaries of the best available evidence including best practice recommendations, regularly updated.
Learnly Anesthesia/Stanford AIM Lab COVID-19 Evidence Service [evidence-based reviews to assist front line anesthesiology providers]
New England Journal of Medicine Journal watch summaries on COVID-19
NICE - advice, rapid guidelines and evidence reviews relevant to COVID-19

National Institutes of Health NIH COVID-19 treatment guidelines to inform clinicians how to care for patients with COVID-19. The recommendations are based on scientific evidence and expert opinion
RCVS Knowledge COVID-19 and animals: A review of the latest available evidence on SARS-CoV-2, the virus associated with the disease COVID-19, and animals (updated 27 September 2021)
RCVS Knowledge COVID-19 mythbusting: webinars and podcasts providing quick and concise answers to common queries from the veterinary profession (last updated 7 August 2020)
RCVS Knowledge in the Spotlight: Remote consulting. This Spotlight feature highlights some published papers, which may provide useful points for consideration for those providing remote consultations (published 19 August 2020)
SAVSNET (Small Animal Veterinary Surveillance Network) is aiming to produce regular surveillance reports on the impact of COVID-19 on companion animal veterinary practice.
SAVSNET Real Time Data to identify trends that might indicate outbreaks of infectious disease or an occurrence of new diseases in pet populations
Systematic Reviews for Animals and Food have produced a rapid review on two questions of interest to veterinarians related to SARS-CoV-2: A rapid review of evidence of infection of pets and livestock with human associated coronavirus diseases, SARS, MERS, and COVID-19, and evidence of the fomite potential of pets and livestock
Teller, L.M. and Moberly, H. (2020) Veterinary Telemedicine: A literature review. Veterinary Evidence, 5 (4). DOI: 10.18849/VE.V5I4.349
WHO Global research on coronavirus disease (COVID-19) bring together the latest international multilingual scientific findings and knowledge on COVID-19
WHO R&D Blueprint has been activated in response to the coronavirus disease outbreak to accelerate diagnostics, vaccines and therapeutics for this novel coronavirus
Wolters Kluwer COVID-19 Resources and Tools to support health professionals

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3.2 Journal collections

Visit the Public Health England website for more links to journal collections from publishers who have signed and commited to the Wellcome statement on sharing research data related to COVID-19

Coverage from all BMJ journals
3 months free access to CABI’s Coronavirus collection
Elsevier Novel Coronavirus Information Centre Elsevier’s free health and medical research on the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) and COVID-19
The Lancet COVID-19 Resource Centre brings together new content from across The Lancet journals
Articles and resources from Mark Allen Group
Articles and other resources from New England Journal of Medicine
Medical, social and behavioral research publications from SAGE
Wiley online library Covid-19: Novel Coronavirus Outbreak

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3.3 Online learning

Centres for Disease Prevention and Control webinar: COVID-19 Update: Optimization Strategies for Healthcare Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) [strategies for healthcare facilities to optimise PPE supplies such as eye protection, isolation gowns, facemasks, and N95 respirators]

Health Education England The Coronavirus E-learning Programme [suitable for all health and social care professionals]
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine [LSHTM] online courses including:

[1] COVID-19: Tackling the Novel Coronavirus [Course overview: learn more about the outbreak of the novel coronavirus and its implications around the world. Understand the emergence of COVID-19, and how we respond to it going forward]

[2] Coronavirus Outbreak [series of lectures with updates from experts]

OpenWHO online course: Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) for Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) [course is focused on infection prevention and control, intended for health workers]

WHO Academy COVID-19 learning app: available for free from Apple App Store and Google Play Store [for up-to the-minute guidance, tools, training and virtual workshops to support health workers in caring for patients with COVID-19 and how to protect themselves as they work]

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4. Research references

Search on ('covid 19' or 'novel coronavirus') - latest results from Google Scholar
EPPI Centre COVID-19: a living systematic map of the evidence an up-to-date map of the current evidence organised into broad categories for easy exploration of studies which includes: intervention, transmission, treatment development and vaccine development
Produced by the National Institutes of Health National Library of Medicine LitCovid is a curated literature hub for tracking up-to-date scientific information about the 2019 novel Coronavirus: General info; Mechanism; Transmission; Treatment; Case report; Epidemic forecasting
PubMed latest research references
Public Health England Finding the evidence: Coronavirus
Wolters Kluwer Expert Searches related to COVID-19 - to assist scientists, epidemiologists and clinical researchers access to the latest and most relevant content on MEDLINE and Journals@Ovid.