There is, of course, so much coverage of Covid-19 at the moment I wasn't sure if it was worth yet another conversation... boy, was I wrong.

The brilliant Dr Sarah Pitt - Virologist at the University of Brighton and Chief Virology Examiner at the Institute of Biomedical Science – has so much to say on our response to this. The testing, the vaccine, the immune response and the biology of the virus itself - this was one of the more eye-opening conversations I have had in 15 years of science journalism. Have we got track and trace all wrong? Will the virus evolve to be more benign over time? Has the PCR testing been reliable? Will there ever be a vaccine?

I'd definitely suggest listening to the whole thing, but if you want to skip to a point of interest quickly there is a time stamp of the topics we cover below.

Time stamp:

• Dr Sarah Pitt interview starts - 5.30
• Our immune response - 8.30
• Setting up testing superlabs - 10.50
• Is regional difference in diagnosis down to different PCR tests? - 13.00
• Has this damaged sciences' reputation? - 16.00
• Track and trace, have we got it wrong? - 19.00
• Vaccines - how long will it take? - 20.25
• Is coronavirus now endemic in humans? - 23.20
• Will it evolve to be less deadly? - 25.00



Links:

Do you know what happens to your sample IBMS videos

Dr Sarah Pitt's article about SARS-Cov2 and influenza virus