Covid in Scotland: Mass testing of students to begin
- Published
About 80% of St Andrews University students are expected to return home for the winter break
The universities of St Andrews and Edinburgh have announced when they will start mass-testing students for Covid-19 ahead of the Christmas holidays.
Testing bases will be set up in university sports centres from Monday 30 November.
Students will be encouraged to get tested twice, three days apart, before they return home.
If both tests are negative, university leaders are urging students to travel as soon as possible.
The Scottish government announced plans last week for asymptomatic testing of students to allow them to go home for the winter break.
Students at Edinburgh and St Andrews will be offered one of the new rapid lateral-flow tests which involves taking a swab from the mouth and the nose.
The tests are voluntary but students have been strongly advised to take them.
The Scottish government is recommending that two tests are taken, at least three days apart and ideally not more than five days apart, to increase confidence that they are not infectious.
Students will be notified of the test result by email or text within an hour.
If they test positive, they will be asked to take a further test of the more accurate PCR variety to confirm the result and they should self-isolate.
If tests are negative, the universities are encouraging students to continue to observe hygiene rules and to travel as soon as possible to minimise the risk of picking up Covid before they leave.
'National effort'
Higher Education Minister Richard Lochhead said "massive logistical efforts" were under way to enable students to return home safely.
He said: "Across the country our universities and colleges have been quick to sign up to organise the voluntary testing of their students as part of a UK-wide pilot, and I would like to thank them for their support in this huge national effort to keep our young people, and their families, safe over the holiday season.
"In the meantime, until the testing is available, it is extremely important that students, particularly those in levels three and four, remain in their term-time accommodation if they are able to, in line with our guidance on visits home."
St Andrews said a total of 86 students and 10 staff had tested positive at the Fife university since 1 September, according to its own records. , external
On Thursday last week, 155 people were self-isolating because they were waiting for a test result or they were a contact of a positive case.
In September students at the university were asked to observe a weekend-long "voluntary lockdown" as infection rates increased among students across Scotland.
The following weekend students across Scotland were told not to go to pubs, parties or restaurants in a bid to stem a spate of outbreaks.
However, St Andrews says it has maintained one of the best records in the UK for keeping Covid levels low within its student community of 9,000.
Lateral flow tests will be carried out on St Andrews University students from the end of the month
About 80% of them are planning to return home over Christmas, according to a survey by St Andrews Students' Association.
The university says there has been no evidence of transmission among students in the classroom or from students to the wider community.
No student residences have been shut down and no members of the university community have become seriously ill, it added.
- Published11 November 2020
- Published18 September 2020
