Deck the halls: Students facing Xmas on campus
Hancock won’t rule it out – as Scots ban undergraduates from PUBS
STUDENTS reacted with dismay yesterday at warnings they may be banned from returning home for Christmas as coronavirus cases surge across campuses.
As Glasgow university became the latest to reveal a major outbreak, the Government said it is considering keeping students from their families over the holiday to fight the spread of the virus.
Term is only just beginning for many undergraduates, who have seen freshers’ week events moved online and strict new rules banning drinking events and house parties.
Students have even been banned from going to pubs, bars and restaurants in Scotland – where a rise in cases has seen 124 test positive and 600 in isolation in Glasgow.
Outbreaks have also been seen at universities in Liverpool, Manchester, St Andrews, Swansea, Canterbury, dundee, exeter and Oxford among others.
Asked yesterday whether students may be told not to go home at Christmas if the situation worsens, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: ‘I don’t rule out anything.’
He told BBC Breakfast: ‘It’s not something that I want to do. But what’s important is that we of course keep people safe and keep the virus under control. I don’t want to have a situation like that, and I very much hope we can avoid it.’
the latest Government guidance to universities makes clear undergraduates should expect to be confined to their university town if extra measures are needed to deal with a local surge. It specifically mentions that they should ‘not return to the family home’.
Boris Johnson has issued a similar message, while the Government’s emergency Sage committee also noted earlier this month that the risk of outbreaks ‘spilling over’ from universities into wider society was more acute ‘ when students return home’ at the end of term.
However, student leaders said Mr Hancock’s comments would do little to calm the nerves of those already cautious about returning to campus.
national union of Students president Larissa Kennedy said students were ‘being punished for the failures of this Government’.
She added: ‘It is irresponsible for officials to brief this story now, once most students have already returned to campuses.
‘Many rely on the support networks offered by their families, and going home to see them over the Christmas period can be critical for their wellbeing.
‘Plus, many students will not have accommodation in their university towns that they can continue to live in over the Christmas holidays. the Government must urgently clarify the situation.’
Jo Grady, general secretary of the lecturers’ association the university and College union, said: ‘unless the Government acts now, thousands more will move on to campus this weekend. It is completely irresponsible to let students go back to university when outbreaks have already started.
‘ Locking students down at Christmas is based on a flawed boarding school vision of university that ignores the fact thousands of staff and students commute every day around the uK to and from university.’
Cases have flared up as students start arriving for the new year. Liverpool university detected 87 cases last week, while Manchester Metropolitan university has also confirmed 32 of its students and two staff tested positive in the first week of term.
In Scotland, four students have tested positive and 40 more are in isolation at St Andrews after an illegal freshers’ week party, and 500 are isolating at Abertay university in dundee after a confirmed case.
In a dramatic tightening of the measures last night, students across Scotland were banned from going to any pubs or restaurants.
Gerry McCormac, of universities Scotland, said: ‘We appreciate this isn’t what students would have expected from their first few weeks at university, but it is critical that they play their part in suppressing the virus.’
A department for education spokesman said: ‘Students should follow the latest health advice, just like the wider public, which means they should stay at university in the event they have symptoms, have to isolate, there are additional restrictions imposed locally, or there is an outbreak on campus or in their accommodation.’
‘Being punished for the Government’s failures’