Students warned
Students told they mustn’t return home as university cases spike
STUDENTS can only meet their parents outside or in a pub and must not return to their family homes, Nicola Sturgeon stressed yesterday.
The First Minister said that while strict coronavirus rules would be in place for the foreseeable future, it is her ‘priority’ to allow them home for Christmas.
Miss Sturgeon warned tough measures banning households from mixing indoors include students who have moved into halls of residence and private flats.
This means youngsters are classed as having formed new households with fellow students they will only have met in recent weeks.
Hundreds of those who have moved into student accommodation are self-isolating following mass coronavirus outbreaks, with many testing positive for the virus.
Last night the University of Aberdeen revealed 44 students had tested positive – including those in halls of residence and private flats.
This follows significant outbreaks at Glasgow, Edinburgh Napier and Abertay universities.
Yesterday, Miss Sturgeon thanked the ‘vast majority of students’ who had followed legal
‘Sticking to guidelines will make a difference’
guidance on the mixing of households. She also praised those who did not visit pubs, cafes and restaurants after all students were effectively banned from visiting hospitality venues over the weekend.
She said: ‘Sticking to guidelines like that isn’t easy – especially in the early days of a university term –but it will make a difference.’
Miss Sturgeon re-emphasised that it is an offence for households in Scotland to meet indoors – meaning family and friends cannot visit each other’s households.
She said that for students thinking about visiting their parents: ‘The key thing to remember is that if you have formed a new household within your student accommodation, you cannot stay overnight in another household. Unfortunately, that includes your parents’ house. This is not a rule that just applies to students.
‘Like the rest of us, you can only meet your parents – or carers, other family members, or friends – outdoors, or in a public indoor space such as a pub.’
The current restrictions mean that only two households of up to six people can meet outdoors or inside a hospitality venue.
Miss Sturgeon said she understands ‘why people are concerned about Christmas’ and said families should ‘not assume that the rules in place now for home visits will still apply over Christmas’.
She added: ‘Let me be clear that it is our priority to make sure that students can return home for Christmas.’
However, while signalling that restrictions could be eased in the coming months, Miss Sturgeon refused to rule out a ‘circuit breaker’ lockdown.
This could see strict lockdown measures imposed again across Scotland over a two-week period in October, with schools and businesses closed.
Last week a leaked Scottish Government memo set out the proposals, which Miss Sturgeon has said remain under consideration.
Yesterday, a further 222 people tested positive for coronavirus, taking the total to 27,798.
That is 6.9 per cent of newly tested individuals, down from 9.1 per cent the previous day.
Miss Sturgeon warned that the rise in cases is lower than expected and is likely due to a ‘weekend effect’, but Public Health Scotland has been asked to check there are no other issues.
No new deaths of patients who first tested positive for the virus in the previous 28 days have been recorded, with the total at 2,511.
There are 122 people in hospital confirmed to have the virus, up by 17 in 24 hours. Of these patients, 16 were in intensive care, up by four. The First Minister said: ‘I still occasionally hear that the rise in cases we have seen in recent weeks is nothing to worry about because the number of people in hospital is not rising as steeply.’
She said coronavirus hospital patient numbers are not increasing as sharply as earlier in the pandemic, but have risen markedly – up from 48 on September 15.
On the same date, there were six intensive care cases.
Miss Sturgeon said: ‘The number of people in hospital is rising and nobody should be under any illusion about that.
‘I don’t say this to alarm or worry people unduly but I say it to, I hope, make everybody realise that we have to take this rise in cases seriously and do all of the things that are being asked of all of us to try and stem that rise and bring Covid back under control.
‘Not getting Covid back under control will result in lives being lost and none of us want that.’
NHS Tayside urged students who are isolating at Abertay University halls to continue to isolate but those needing to travel home must contact their accommodation providers to arrange travel.
Dr Daniel Chandler, who is the associate director of public health and chair of the health board’s incident management team, said last night: ‘The Scottish Government has advised that students who require the support and care of a friend, family member or other supportive person to comply with the requirement to self-isolate can return home.
‘This must be arranged through your accommodation provider to ensure students are collected safely and the risk of spread of Covid-19 is minimised.’
‘Number of people in hospital rising’