DURHAM University is today asking all students ‘living in’ at two of its 17 Colleges to remain on the campus and to only attend activities managed by the university for the next seven days.  

The move is an additional precaution which is over and above the requirement for all students to follow the UK Government and University regulations to limit the spread of coronavirus, which have been communicated regularly to students and staff.  

The university has taken this move with the advice of Durham County Council’s Public Health Team in response to an increase in coronavirus cases at these two Colleges: St Mary’s College and Collingwood College.  

Currently, around 50 of the total 300 students ‘living in’ at St Mary’s College have tested positive for coronavirus. At Collingwood College also around 50 students, out of a total of 500 ‘livers in’, have tested positive.  

Some students in both Colleges are currently self-isolating. Those who are not have been asked to remain on the University campus, not travel into the City centre, and only take journeys relating to their education or managed University activities for the next seven days.  

All students in self-isolation will receive ongoing welfare including access to hot, healthy food, support with essential services and supplies, and continued access to their education online.  

All students are urged to continue to remain vigilant, to follow Government and University regulations including what to do if they experience symptoms of coronavirus.  

Covid-19 symptoms include a new continuous cough; loss of or change to smell or taste; and a high temperature.

If you have any of these symptoms, you must: self-isolate; book a Covid-19 test via the NHS website; and, for university staff or students, inform the university (for more information please visit dur.ac.uk/coronavirus/youruniversity)  

Jeremy Cook, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Colleges and Student Experience), at Durham University, said: “The health, safety and wellbeing of our students, staff and the communities of which we are part has been our top priority throughout the Covid-19 pandemic and remains so.  

“We have worked tirelessly to achieve as safe and successful start to the new academic year as possible, including introducing a wide range of measures to reduce the risk of Covid-19 spreading and developing a comprehensive Outbreak Response Plan, which sets out how we would work with partners to respond to different possible scenarios and which has been approved by Durham County Council’s Public Health Team and the Department for Education. 

“We are working very closely with partners including Durham County Council’s Public Health Team to ensure our planning is co-ordinated and we are in very regular contact with our students, staff and the local community to share the latest information and receive feedback.  

“We have been actively monitoring coronavirus case numbers across the University community throughout the pandemic and have implemented a range of carefully considered, progressive measures to reduce the risk of the virus spreading. This has included the self-isolation of a number of ‘households’ within our colleges.  

“Having reassessed case numbers with colleagues from the Public Health Team today, we have decided that further measures are appropriate at this stage.  

“Effective immediately, we are asking students who are living in our St Mary’s and Collingwood Colleges but not currently self-isolating to remain on the university campus and only undertake journeys relating to their education or managed university activities for the next seven days. 

“We anticipate this request remaining active for seven days, though we will keep this, and the situation across our campus, under constant review.  

“We would like to thank our students who have responded to the local and national Covid-19 restrictions so positively and ask for their full co-operation with today’s request.” 

Today, the Department of Health and Social Care is opening a first-of-its-kind coronavirus testing centre at the university’s Territorial Lane car park, in Durham City.  

Appointments are available from 8am to 8pm, seven days per week, and unlike mobile testing units which visit sites across the County, the new facility will stay in the same location. 

Appointments must be booked through the NHS website.  

Amanda Healy, County Durham’s Director of Public Health, said: “We are working closely with Durham University and Public Health England is managing the public health response to the rise in coronavirus cases at St Mary’s and Collingwood colleges. 

“In line with national guidance, students who have tested positive have already been asked to self-isolate, as have those who have been in contact with someone who has received a positive test. We are fully supportive of these further measures as an additional step towards preventing the spread of the virus and protecting students, staff and the wider community.”