Lee Smith/Reuters
- More than 770 students at Northumbria University in Newcastle, UK, tested positive for COVID-19, it announced on Friday — marking one of the UK’s largest single-site outbreaks.
- The school has told students who aren’t infected they can still attend classes on campus and access shared facilities like libraries, the Guardian reported.
- Nearby Newcastle University reported 94 positive COVID-19 cases among students over the past week. Other UK university cities have also seen spikes as students return to campus for the new semester.
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At least 770 students have tested positive for COVID-19 at Northumbria University in Newcastle, England, in one of the largest single-site outbreaks in the UK.
The Guardian reported on Friday that Northumbria University Vice-Chancellor Andrew Wathey sent an email to staff saying that 78 of the 770 were symptomatic but that the vast majority were “not unwell,” and all were self-isolating.
Additionally, eleven staff members have so far tested positive. In September, the Northumbria branch of the Universities of Colleges Union expressed “serious concerns” over the school’s insistence on “face to face” instruction, and has said they may strike if changes aren’t made. Many schools across the country have already pivoted back to online classes.
“We told Northumbria University they had a civic duty to put the health of staff, students and local community first,” the union said on Facebook Friday. “We take no pleasure in now seeing another preventable crisis play out.”
The school has said that students who aren’t infected can still attend classes on campus and access shared facilities like libraries, the Guardian reported on Friday.
Lee Smith/Reuters
The school said in a statement on Friday that students who violate the terms of their self-isolation "will be subject to fines from police and disciplinary action by the Universities which may include fines, final warnings or expulsion."
Students who are affected will receive food parcels and other essential items, along with additional academic support "to make sure they are not being disadvantaged if they miss any face to face teaching during their isolation period," the University added.
One student, who didn't want to be named, told Business Insider that they hadn't received any communication from the school regarding the outbreak.
"Anything about COVID-19 we've heard about has come from the news and not the university," they said.
An additional 101 COVID-19 cases were reported at nearby Newcastle University, according to The Chronicle.
"It is difficult to be certain where an infection occurred in many cases, but so far the overwhelming majority of cases we have seen are infections from social and domestic settings," a spokeswoman for Newcastle University told the paper.
Some students say they're are not surprised by the peak in cases in the city, which has around 50,000 students in total across the two universities.
"I just think it was inevitable that there would be such a surge in cases when new students from across the world now all have to live with each other in a small space," Newcastle University student journalist Sophie Hicks told Business Insider.
"Students will break lockdown restrictions because everyone wants the 'freshers experience' and young people think they're invincible."
Concerns have also been raised that Newcastle University Students' Union is encouraging students to continue socializing in the city, after it sent students an email advertising drinking deals at local bars.
—Chris Stokel-Walker (@stokel) October 2, 2020
But others have slammed the way students have been portrayed in the midst of the pandemic.
"I'm worried this is going to be used to smear Newcastle and Northumbria students," Joe Molander, head of current affairs at Newcastle University's student newspaper, The Courier, told Business Insider. "Some people haven't been responsible, but the overwhelming majority of us are taking this just as seriously as everyone else. We know that unless we're smart, people will die."