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King’s College London confirms five cases of coronavirus

Both staff and students have contracted the virus


King’s College London has confirmed five members of in its community, both staff and students, have tested positive with COVID-19.

In a statement published online, the university stated: “We are aware that three more students and a member of staff at King’s have Coronavirus (COVID-19).

“All are in self-isolation and being provided with all necessary support and medical advice. This brings the total number of confirmed cases to five.”

The cases have been confirmed after the university has decided to move to online teaching from Monday 23rd of March.

Traditional exams have also been cancelled in light of the coronavirus outbreak, with many departments opting for online exams or alternative assessments.

The full statement published on the King’s website reads:

“We are aware that three more students and a member of staff at King’s have Coronavirus (COVID-19).

“All are in self-isolation and being provided with all necessary support and medical advice. This brings the total number of confirmed cases to five.

“Where individuals are confirmed positive for novel coronavirus, we will continue to take every precaution and appropriate steps in line with Public Health England (PHE) guidelines.

“Current Government advice is that anyone with symptoms of coronavirus should self-isolate for 7 days if they experience symptoms. People who do not have symptoms are advised to carry on as normal and do not need to self-isolate. Further online advice can be found on the Government website: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-information-for-the-public

“Since Public Health England (PHE) has now moved from ‘Containment’ to ‘Delay’, testing protocol is changing. We’ll continue to update where possible.

“We want to assure our students and staff that we are taking this situation seriously and we continue to follow Government and PHE advice so we can monitor and plan accordingly. We are keeping our students and staff updated on the actions we are taking.”

This update makes King’s the university with the most coronavirus cases after Oxford University, who currently has six cases of the virus.

If students do not feel safe to attend classes they will not be penalised and will not be marked as absent at this time.

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