One in 80 UoN students have Covid-19

Approximately one in 80 UoN students currently have Covid-19, newly released data shows.

The data shared by the University of Nottingham reveals that 425 students are self-isolating following their positive test result confirming Covid-19, as of October 2nd. Of the 425, 106 are in UoN halls, 93 in purpose-built student accommodation and 226 in private accommodation.

With 35,000 students enrolled at UoN, there are now 1,214 active cases per 100,000 among the university’s student community. This figure lies well above both the 27 cases per 100,000 that was present in the wider city of Nottingham back in early-September and the peak of 159 per 100,000 which froze Leicester into a local lockdown back in June.

However, the university say these high numbers are a result of their testing programme, which checks some individuals even if they are not experiencing symptoms.

This testing is being carried out by UoN in order to identify cases “earlier and more quickly.” Doing this, they say, will help them to find carriers of the virus who may “otherwise remain undetected” in order to “reduce asymptomatic transmission and the number of future cases.”

Cases over the last month have quickly risen in Nottingham; as students return to Notts for classes, infections among younger demographics have soared. This increase follows the nationwide trend of a second Covid-19 wave, which has left hundreds of UoN students self-isolating away from home.

Students can keep up with the latest active Covid-19 case numbers at UoN here.

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