As outbreaks hit universities, 1,700 students confined to Manchester halls
AROUND 1,700 students in Manchester were last night confined to their halls – under guard – in the biggest lockdown at a British university so far.
Students at Manchester Metropolitan University were told to selfisolate for 14 days after 127 tested positive for coronavirus.
It comes amid increasing alarm over the growing number of outbreaks at universities, which have only just started for the year. One affected student residence is Birley Hall in Manchester, after reports of up to 100 undergraduates partying earlier in the week.
Last night, the university said ‘security teams’ were patrolling the areas to enforce the lockdown. Dr Yasmin Ahmed-Little of Public Health England North West said: ‘We have seen an increase in positive cases and students with symptoms... young people play a crucial role in preventing the spread of coronavirus to protect those at much greater risk.’
The Manchester restrictions came as universities are setting up their own testing centres amid fears that swathes of students may be stranded there for Christmas if the outbreaks continue.
Cases of coronavirus have been recorded in more than 20 universities across the UK, with least a dozen now testing students on campus.
Queen’s University Belfast and the Universities of Greenwich, Portsmouth, Nottingham and Birmingham are among those with such testing schemes, some of which are also open to local residents.
The University of Glasgow, which is dealing with a major outbreak and 600 students self-isolating, set up a ‘pop up’ centre to diagnose students in one badly-hit hall of residence. Health Secretary Matt Hancock previously said he would not rule out the prospect of keeping students in their accommodation over the holidays to stop the possible spread of the virus as students return home. And Nicola Sturgeon yesterday defended banning students in Scotland from pubs, but said the restrictions were only in place for this weekend. Universities UK said stopping students returning home is ‘not currently Government policy’. A spokesman for Manchester Metropolitan University said: ‘Our security teams will increase patrols to support the lockdown and we will take disciplinary action against any students found to have breached requirements.’ A Department for Education spokesman said it would continue to monitor the situation, support students and follow Public Health England advice.
‘Patrols around residences’