‘There’s a chance I’ll go home for Christmas’: Sussex students on staying in Tier 1

Students have mixed opinions about staying at ‘medium risk’


After a small drop in weekly coronavirus cases within Brighton and Hove, it was recently decided that Brighton is should remain in Tier 1.

Brighton’s director of public health, Alistair Hill, is urging people not to be complacent with Covid-19 precautions as there are still “too many new cases”.

The University of Sussex recently published stats on October 21 which revealed there were currently 102 students who have tested positive for the virus. Naturally, The Sussex Tab wanted to hear from you and what you thought about Brighton staying as ‘medium risk,’ here is what you said.

‘People won’t take warning of no complacency seriously’

In a poll on our Instagram last night, we asked whether people will take Alistair Hill’s warning seriously. 115 of you said that people will take it seriously and won’t be complacent after hearing we are staying in Tier 1. Whereas 462 of you said that people won’t take this warning seriously.

For those of you that asked no, we requested that you anonymously submit the reasons why you think people will ignore this warning from Brighton’s director of public health. One student said: “There are too many case and no one is taking precautions.”

Another person submitted a response telling The Sussex Tab that they are in the risk category. They stated: “I’m at a risk group – the cases are rising rapidly and we don’t want to become another city like Liverpool. The later we wait to be a bit more careful then the more drastic measures will be in the future.”

One first year bio med student, Lucy Evans, exclusively spoke to The Sussex Tab about why she wants to go into a higher tier. She stated: “I want to go into Tier 2 as I think it’s important that we can stop it now so we can actually go home for Christmas. Honestly I want a circuit breaker more, even though it’ll mean I can’t go home and see my family for my siblings’ birthdays. We need cases to go down now before it gets even worse with people obviously breaking rules over Christmas, and the increased risk winter weather brings.”

‘Are you happy to remain in Tier 1?’

We also anonymously asked this question to students who replied with their concerns about what it would mean if Brighton did go into a higher tier. One student said they didn’t want to go into a higher risk category because being in Tier 1 means “there is still a chance I can go home for Christmas.”

Another student said they’re content being in Tier 1 because they can socialise with their friends in peace. Someone else submitted: “I like still being able to go to the pub with someone who I don’t actually live with.” Another person similarly added: “Us being in Tier 1 means I can see and hang out with people outside of my flat which preserves my mental health.”

Many students across the UK are currently in relationships and one person stressed to us that if we go into a higher tier then they won’t be able to see their boyfriend. They said: “My boyfriend doesn’t live very close so if we changed tier I wouldn’t be able to see him.”

Third year student Cameron Etchells told The Sussex Tab that he is fine with staying in Tier 1. He stated: “I’m personally ok with Brighton staying in Tier 1. We’re a relatively small city, with universities not near the city centre so we have most of our cases in one particular area. Plus if London and Essex are in stricter lockdown, so if that means less tourists, it means us living in Brighton have the city to ourselves.”

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