Launched in April 2020, the REACT programme is one of the world’s largest and most comprehensive coronavirus monitoring studies. The programme is led by a world-class team of researchers at Imperial College London in partnership with Ipsos MORI, and commissioned by the Department of Health and Social Care.

The programme uses home testing to track the progress of England’s epidemic, offering a high-resolution snapshot of how the virus and spreading and who is most at risk. REACT data are regularly reported to Government to inform and shape decision-making.

The programme forms part of Pillar 4 of the government’s COVID-19 testing strategy, to conduct UK-wide surveillance testing to learn more about the spread of the disease and inform the development of new tests and treatments. It adds to the data already being collected by UK Health Security Agency and the Office for National Statistics.