It’s now illegal for Scottish students to see their own families

New COVID restrictions that ban students from meeting other households indoors now also apply to their own families.

Students belong to households they have formed at University, and the current law in Scotland bans households from mixing inside homes.

National clinical director Jason Leitch said in a tweet yesterday: “To clarify, they [students] are a separate household… The law is clear: they can’t meet indoors with another household- even mum and dad.”

There was confusion surrounding the new rule because Prof Leitch originally said that Scottish students could return home so long as they were not self-isolating and remained symptom free.

However, homesick students that would have previously been able to go home for the weekend are now banned from doing so.

The guidance comes as a response to growing COVID cases in Scottish University accommodation.

Universities Scotland and the Scottish government have also begun to implement other measures such as banning students from hospitality venues to slow the spread of COVID in University communities

In a statement regarding the spread of coronavirus in universities, Universities Scotland said: “We have already implemented strict measures to ensure the safety of the university environment, both for teaching and for student residences.

“We have seen the majority of students live up to our expectations of responsible behaviour, but a minority have not.

“Everyone across the nation shares the concern at seeing students in residences test positive for the virus and we will act decisively to deal with this.”

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