The Boris Johnson Government has mapped out a route that will allow UK university students to plan their return home over the Christmas holidays.
Around 2.4 million students study in British higher academic institutions and it is estimated that at least one million of them will travel during the holidays.
The mobility of all this human mass, from region to region or back to their countries - and especially the use that students make of public transport - poses a challenge in the fight against the transmission of the virus, in a country where the The pandemic, contrary to all expectations, has not seen a decline in the numbers.
It is estimated that about 40,000 university students have been infected with the virus during the second wave.
“It is essential that all of them follow the established measures to protect their families and their communities.
And that the universities make sure that the students have the necessary support, especially those who decide to stay on campus during the holidays ”, said the Secretary of State for Universities, Michelle Donelan.
These would be the necessary steps for a safe return home: firstly, the Government demands that students scrupulously follow the confinement rules imposed throughout the country until December 3.
From the 9th, universities are asked to resume
online
classes
.
At the same time, the British Executive is committed to collaborating with them to accelerate a massive testing campaign, especially in areas of the country where the rate of transmission of the virus is very high.
If a student tests positive, they will be required to remain in isolation for ten days.
With the dates shuffled, a student who discovers that he is infected on the same day 9, could plan his return home for the 19th, that is, six days before Christmas Day.
The traced system opens a window of almost a week to plan the time of the test and the date of travel.
The government's forecast, however, is to be able to carry out the bulk of the tests between November 30 and December 3.
In this way, a staggered return of students between the 6th and 9th could be planned.
In addition to the extra effort that universities may have to reschedule their classes in a virtual way, the two main concerns expressed before the recommendations and guides of the Government have to do with the massive implementation of tests, and, above all, the planning of the return to classrooms next year.
"We ask the Government to give us clearer instructions regarding returning to campus in the New Year, to ensure that students face the fewest obstacles in both studies and scheduled exams," said Tim Bradshaw, the CEO of the
Russel Group
, the institution that brings together 24 major universities throughout the UK.
“Plans to carry out a massive test campaign are not going to achieve universal coverage.
Some universities will not receive the necessary kits or supplies, and they face a huge practical challenge in a very short time.
The Government has ended up creating a situation in which teachers and students are now participating in face-to-face classes, despite having decreed a national confinement ”, protested Jo Grady, general secretary of the UCU university union.
The committee of experts that advises the Government of Boris Johnson (SAGE, in its acronym in English) has already warned in its last report that the trip to their homes of all this mass of students, and their subsequent return, represent a clear possibility of two new strong outbreaks of infections, if precautionary measures are not taken as soon as possible.
Since the beginning of the second wave, the university age group has been the one that has experienced the highest speed in the transmission of the virus.
Information about the coronavirus
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