Students waiting for uni bus ‘violated Covid rules’
A University of Bath student has raised concerns about students breaking coronavirus restrictions as they waited to catch a bus back to campus.
William Cheng is a third-year at the university who voiced his worries after noticing crowds gathering at a bus stop on a recent Friday night.
He spotted students queuing up to get the university bus back to campus at 10.30pm on October 2 and said they did not appear to be sticking to the “rule of six”.
He said: “When I walked back home Friday night at 10.30pm, I saw loads of students waiting for our Unibus U1 back to campus.
“However, they were in big groups without social distancing.”
He continued: “As buses are working in a reduced capacity, at least three buses were full and at least 50 people were at that bus stop very closely together, which completely violates the six people rule.”
The university has said that some student houses comprise of more than six individuals and they did not need to socially distance.
Speaking to Bath Live, Mr Cheng said he was concerned about coronavirus spreading quickly in student halls. He said: “I believe they are new year one students living on campus but I am very scared the Covid-19 cases could rise rapidly on campus, especially in student halls. I will report to the university
SU [students’ union] about this and hope the university will limit their times of going out from their accommodation.”
Mr Cheng added that students should be told that this year should not be the year for socialising but that they can do it another time when the pandemic was not a problem.
A University of Bath spokesperson said: “We’ve been working closely with WECA and First Bus to plan Covid-secure bus services.
“Buses are operating with reduced capacity and wearing face coverings is mandatory, with limited exemptions.
“The bus drivers and marshals are working hard to keep people moving safely.
“In line with government guidance on Covid-19, each student house or flat is treated as one household. This means that some households are larger than six people and do not need to socially distance.
“However, if the behaviour of a member of the university contravenes our policies then we will, of course, intervene.”
The University of Bath is publishing coronavirus statistics each day at www.bath.ac.uk/campaigns/ daily-covid-19-statistics/
On Tuesday, the most recent results available at the time of going to print, the university reported 26 new cases of coronavirus among students and the first case among members of staff. This brings the total number of cases recorded in October so far to 199.