Students get their act together over Covid-19
RESIDENTS IN AREA WITH LOWEST CASE RATE SAY YOUNG HAVE BEEN BLAMED TOO MUCH
STUDENTS are starting to “pull up their socks and take the pandemic seriously”, say residents in an area which now has the lowest number of Covid-19 cases in the county.
The Arboretum, Forest and Trent University area currently has 13 cases in total – the lowest rate of new infections in Notts.
Some residents believe that the staggered university return – with some students not returning until mid-february – is behind the drop.
But one student believes the low number of new infections are due to most students having caught the virus already.
Just 10 neighbourhoods in Nottinghamshire now have coronavirus infection rates below 200 cases per 100,000 people.
First-year Nottingham Trent University student Remei Way, 19, who lives in The Arboretum, said: “It is a good thing. It is a student area and a lot of us have already had it when we moved in so we are not likely to get it again in the next few months.
“I had it and it was not too bad. It was very tiring and I lost my taste and smell.”
Giles Croft, 63, who also lives in The Arboretum, believes fewer students being back is bound to have an impact.
He said: “There are a lot of students that live around here and they are not back. The fact they mix widely and casually then I think if they are not around then it is less likely.
“I don’t think (the low figures) are because we are better people. I think it is geography.”
Some residents believe that students are starting to “get their act together”.
Frank Jackson said: “I think the students are pulling up their socks now and taking it seriously.
“I am glad it is going down. Students know they will get fined (for breaching rules and holding parties). I don’t blame what they are doing – they are young and free – we have all done it.”
Tarot reader Casper Alixander, 21, who lives close to the Arboretum, said: “It could be because they have had it but it could be that students are more careful about it. The wider student population have been careful. People look at us across the country and think ‘we are the cause because we have two universities’.
“But I have seen students caring more about the coronavirus than some of the older adults.”
Shop security guard Liam Bradbury, 31, who also lives close to the Arboretum, said he also believed students had been badly portrayed.
“I think they are following the rules a lot more because they now want it to be over and get back to their studies and to develop their future.”