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News Reports, 25 September 2020.

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24 September 2020: One University of Hull student has tested positive. Hull Live.

24 September 2020: “There are currently a small number of positive cases among our student population, all of whom are self-isolating.” University of Edinburgh. Archived page.

24 September 2020: Further reporting on the six cases at Leeds University. “The positive cases are among both students and staff – however they are not connected to each other, the University said in a statement.” Yorkshire Evening Post.

24 September 2020: There has been an outbreak of cases in a “Leeds student suburb.” Yorkshire Evening Post.

25 September 2020: The Leeds Tab reports “At least five flats across two halls of residence at Leeds Uni are now self-isolating, either because residents have contracted coronavirus, or because they are awaiting test results.” The Tab.

24 September 2020: “Edinburgh Napier University: 120 cases of coronavirus identified in an outbreak at the University.” Edinburgh News.

25 September 2020: “First Abertay student to catch Covid-19, leading to Parker House lockdown, speaks out.” 4 positive cases so far; student states “much of what had been claimed about the outbreak was inaccurate..” Dundee Evening Telegraph.

25 September 2020: “The number of coronavirus cases linked to accommodation for Abertay University students has risen to 46 and spread to a second halls of residence.” Dundee Evening Telegraph.

25 September 2020: “St Andrews University Covid-19 cases hit 12 as students prepare for quiet weekend.” The Courier.

23 September 2020: Confirmed: 22 students, 8 staff, tested positive at Newcastle University. Source: recording of meeting.

25 September 2020: Northumbria University reports “some student cases of Covid-19 in private halls and in our own residences.” Source: internal emails.

25 September 2020: Exeter University state “Today, we know from Public Health England that of the 58 cases reported in Devon over the past seven days a little over half are attributable to the University. In Cornwall, there are less than five cases at the university.” Cornwall Live.

In old news: “Covid-19: re-opening universities is high risk” British Medical Journal editorial, 1st September 2020.

Housekeeping: In case of link rot, I am archiving every link I publish here on the Wayback Machine.

Current tally:

24 Universities have reported coronavirus cases.
14 in England.
9 in Scotland.
1 in Wales.

Mea Culpa

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Earlier today, I was contacted with a report of an outbreak at a university.

I replied, saying I would post about it later today.

The correspondent then replied that I should not, that the report was fictional, and that they were checking my level of validation.

I was certainly wrong to reply so affirmatively, given that there were details that could have been checked, and other warning signs that this was not a valid report.

This site is basically a part-time and one-person operation, and (current) enthusiasm aside, I have neither the time, resources nor the necessary skills and contacts to follow up reports.

If you know of an unreported outbreak, or are concerned about working conditions, in your university. contact your union!

I have no complaints about being tested in this way, nor of being caught out. Certainly, I’m thankful that the test was revealed before I blundered into posting, and that it happened so soon in the development of this site.

For the record, of the personal reports I noted yesterday, three have since been validated by journalists, and none have (yet) been refuted. And this site will continue to monitor publicly reported outbreaks of covid at U.K. universities.

I say again, please, if you know of an unreported outbreak, or are concerned about working conditions, in your university. contact your union!

News Reports, 24 September 2020.

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23 September 2020: Confirmation of a private report yesterday, “Two confirmed Covid-19 cases at University of Kent campus in Canterbury.” Kent Online.

24 September 2020: Another confirmation of a private report yesterday, one positive case of covid confirmed, and “a number of students at the halls of residence at Queen Margaret University are self-isolating.” Edinburgh News.

23 September 2020: “Two more individuals have tested positive for Covid-19 at an Abertay University hall of residence.” Evening Telegraph.

23 September 2020: “Major Covid outbreak at Glasgow University sees 600 self-isolate. University says number of cases likely to be higher than 124 identified so far.” Guardian.

24 September 2020: Leeds Uni confirms six positive coronavirus cases. The Tab.

24 September 2020: Durham email states “We have a small number of individual Covid-19 cases within our student community”, from Twitter.

24 September 2020: A single confirmed case at the University of Hull. Internal email.

Round up from the Guardian says 20 universities now have cases, though there seems to be 19 on their map. Checked against the tally here, they are missing Durham.

Some housekeeping: I erroneously filed a report on Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, under University of Aberdeen. Now corrected.

Current tally:

21 Universities have reported coronavirus cases.
12 in England.
8 in Scotland.
1 in Wales.

Confidential Reports, 23 September 2020.

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So far I have received reports, made confidentially, of covid-19 outbreaks at five universities:

Birmingham: at least one positive test.

Exeter: confirmed on Streatham Campus, awaiting results of tests on Penryn campus. This has now been reported via Devon Live and ITV.

Newcastle University: 22 students and 8 staff have tested positive. Confirmed through recording of University meeting.

Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh: One student tested positive in the halls of residence. Now confirmed by Edinburgh live.

Queen Mary University, London. Multiple cases.

University of Kent, Canterbury. Two confirmed cases. Now confirmed by Kent Online.

Additionally, I have been informed that the outbreak at Manchester Metropolitan is worse than reported, or declared by the university, and that cleaning practices at Sunderland University are not as described by the Vice Chancellor.

Many thanks to those who have contacted us.

Updated 24 September 2020: We regret we cannot take any more private tips. We do not have the resources to follow them up, and we cannot afford to make mistakes on such a serious matter. See this post ‘Mea Culpa’ for a longer explanation.

if you know of an unreported outbreak, or are concerned about working conditions, in your university, contact your union!

News reports, 23 September 2020.

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18 September 2020: Two students test positive at Aberdeen University. Evening Express.

22 September 2020: A different outbreak to the above: “A number of students staying at Aberdeen University accommodation have tested positive for coronavirus.” Evening Express.

22 September 2020: Hundreds of students to isolate at University of Abertay, after outbreak at Parker House, a privately owned halls of residence. Guardian. BBC. Abertay University.

22 September 2020: UCU state that “it has received reports of cases in every faculty of [Manchester Metropolitan University], with reports of multiple cases in the business school.” In response, “the university said it would only share anonymised cases on a weekly basis.” UCU.

22 September 2020: One confirmed case, two suspected, in Vijay Patel building, De Montfort University, Leicester. De Montfort UCU.

23 September 2020: “As of 9am on September 23 there have been a total of 30 covid-19 cases at Oxford Brookes over the last seven days.” Oxford Mail.

23 September 2020: Cases confirmed at the University of Exeter. Devon Live. ITV.

From last night’s debate in parliament, the only substantive mentions of universities:

Boris Johnson, after two minutes: The government will introduce new restrictions in England, carefully judged to achieve the maximum reduction in the R number with the minimum damage to lives and livelihoods. I want to stress that this is by no means a return to the full lockdown of March. We’re not issuing a general instruction to stay at home. We will ensure that schools, colleges, and universities stay open because nothing is more important than the education, health, and wellbeing of our young people. We will ensure that businesses can stay open in a COVID compliant way. However, we must take action to suppress the disease.

Boris Johnson, after 1 hour six minutes: Gentlemen, the most important thing is that the students who are now back at university in large numbers should, like everybody else, follow the guidelines. It’s also important, Mr. Speaker, where there are outbreaks in universities, that students should not be going home to infect their older relatives.

Rev.com.

In other news: There’s a lot of student-blaming going on, but the police in Belfast say that the majority of warnings and fines have not been issued to students. BBC. Belfast Live.

Current tally:

15 Universities have reported coronavirus cases.
8 in England.
6 in Scotland.
1 in Wales.

News Reports, 22 September 2020.

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10 September 2020: University of the West of England: Single student tests positive at Frenchay Campus. Bristol Post.

22 September 2020: “87 coronavirus cases confirmed at University of Liverpool in a week. University says campus measures have helped to detect cases but union says plans for teaching are dangerous.” Liverpool Echo.

22 September 2020: “12 individuals who have been confirmed by Public Health Wales (PHW) to have tested positive for coronavirus, are students at the University.” Swansea University.

22 September 2020: “Glasgow University’s Cairncross House is thought to have had more than 20 students test positive for Covid in the past few days with more self isolating.” Glasgow Evening Times. Uni of Glasgow Twitter statement.

In other news, new restrictions have been announced for the whole of the U.K. However, little was said specifically about universities, other than “We will ensure that schools, colleges and universities stay open – because nothing is more important than the education, health and well-being of our young people.” Gov.uk. How this will be ensured is not stated. Similarly, there was no mention of universities in the Scottish First Ministers speech, beyond a determination to keep “young people in education.” Scot.gov. In Northern Ireland, the First Minster has said that the new restrictions don’t affect students going home at weekends, but that this may change in the future. BBC.

And also, this site has been written about in Research Professional News by Chris Parr.

News Reports, 21 September 2020.

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18 September 2020: University of Stirling: One student tests positive. Daily Record.

20 September 2020: University of Glasgow: “two positive cases in Glasgow University halls last week.” Sunday Post.

21 September 2020: University of Liverpool: Reports that there were 87 positive student & staff covid tests in the previous week. UoL UCU on Twitter.

21 September 2020: University of St Andrews: Four students contract covid, over 40 in self-isolation. Express & Star.

In other news, the U.K. Covid Alert level was raised from 3 to 4. Guardian. The Government’s document on prioritization of swab tests made no mention of universities.

Commentary, 21 September 2020.

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Independent Sage have issued a statement ‘Measures to avoid a national lockdown: An emergency ten point plan‘ (pdf); Immediate measure no. 4 reads: “No in-person teaching at Colleges and Universities”

Andrew Chitty has written on How many students are Covid positive?  Headline figure: “about 14,000 students due to return to UK universities (6 in every thousand) are currently Covid-positive.”

News reports, 14 September to 19 September, 2020.

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Reports of Covid Outbreaks in British Universities, from Monday 14 September to Saturday 19 September:

15 September 2020: Oxford Brookes: University states “We are currently dealing with a small but growing number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 amongst our Oxford-based students. These appear to have spread via social gatherings in off-campus private residential settings during the week commencing September 7.” Oxford Mail.

17 September 2020: Edinburgh Napier University: “Eleven students have tested positive for Covid-19 following an outbreak at student accommodation”, Bainfield Flats. BBC Scotland.

18 Sept 2020: University of Bath: “a very small number confirmed cases of Covid-19”, who are now self-isolating, along with their households. Bath University. Somerset Live.

19 Sept 2020: Manchester Metropolitan University: “Several students” isolating, “a handful of confirmed cases” being managed at MMU’s Birley campus. Manchester Evening News.

19 Sept 2020: Warwick University: A student living in the Rootes accomodation block tested positive; 14 other people on the same floor now isolating. This follows a single case from the previous week. The Boar.