GP records can provide an early warning system for future outbreaks

This paper shows the numbers of people presenting to GPs with suspected COVID-19 disease through the London phase of the pandemic. GPs are adept at distinguishing between ‘normal’ URTIs and the symptoms of COVID. We suggest that GP data such as this could be used to help detect and monitor new outbreaks of disease when the lock-down ends. We also suggest that practice infrastructure might support testing and contact tracing in the community.

The East London population is multi-ethnic and has high levels of social deprivation. This makes it a good place to investigate the links between chronic disease and the previous findings that Black and South Asian populations are at higher risk of severe infection and death from COVID compared to White people. We used anonymised data from the GP electronic health record, to show that the higher prevalence of COVID -19 among Black and South Asian populations is not explained either by a greater burden of chronic diseases – or by social deprivation.
This means that researchers will need to look for explanations elsewhere – maybe there is more occupational exposure, or differences in household composition which are not captured by studies using GP records.