The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) in the UK is encouraging clinical and academic healthcare professionals who are conducting nonCOVID-19 trials funded or supported by the organization to pause their studies and prioritize frontline care of patients with the virus.

In a recent update, the NIHR Clinical Research Network states it is pausing site setup of new or ongoing studies within the National Health Service system that do not address the COVID-19 crisis. Trial projects that are delayed because of COVID-19 will not lose their funding, the network says.

Despite encouraging sites to pause trials, the NIHR also stated that priority should be given to nonCOVID-19 research in which “discontinuation would have a significant detrimental effect on the ongoing care of participants.” Although the NIHR does not plan to provide further guidance on study discontinuation, the organization emphasizes local decision-making to determine which studies should be paused.