The Task Force is mandated by the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) and the Federal Department of Home Affairs (FDHA). As an independent advisory body, it supports decision-makers at the federal and cantonal level in their decision-making from a scientific perspective. The Task Force identifies research areas in which Swiss science can rapidly make a significant contribution to understanding and combating Covid-19 and explores innovation opportunities where Swiss scientific expertise could rapidly contribute to products or services with a view to corona. 

The Swiss National COVID-19 Science Task Force consists of about 70 experts, who are assigned to the management team, the advisory board and ten expert groups. Professor Stefan Boes from the Department of Health Sciences and Medicine is a member of the expert group "Economics", which is headed by Prof. Dr. Jan-Egbert Sturm from the KOF Swiss Economic Institute at ETH Zurich. The expert group deals with the coordination of economic analyses..

Commenting on his appointment, Prof. Dr. Boes says: "In this role, I am pleased to be able to contribute to the efficient fight against the pandemic and to represent the University of Lucerne in this important body". The activities of the Task Force would have much in common with the Swiss Learning Health System (SLHS), which the Department has been running in cooperation with other universities since 2017. The SLHS aims to develop evidence-based solutions to current challenges in the Swiss health care system and to continuously integrate them into the health care system. Boes: "Covid-19 shows how important and up-to-date this approach is, and we can contribute our experience with the SLHS here".