Covid-19: Students tested before travelling home

Thousands of students are due to be tested

The mass testing of university students for Covid-19, so they can go home for the Christmas break, has started in Canterbury.

Those testing negative will be able to use the "travel window" between 3 and 9 December.

Two tests must be taken 72 hours apart.

"We're trying to ensure the safety of students returning to their families and not presenting a risk to them" said Simon Gwynne of Canterbury Christchurch University.

The testing centre set up at the university will be open from 10:00 to 18:00 GMT every day until 8 December, with 900 students booked in on the first day.

Anyone who tests positive for Covid-19 must isolate for 10 days, with a community buddy system making sure they are looked after.

But Becky Thomson, president of the Canterbury Christchurch Students' Union, says some might not take advantage of the testing.

"A lot of students would have stayed until 20, 21 December to get the maximum out of study. A lot are thinking of leaving later outside the window because of study restrictions, so they don't know whether or not to get it".