UK plans pre-Christmas student lockdown as millions set to plunge into highest alert level

Doubts cast over government move to halt universities’ Covid surge

A student in lockdown at a British university. AFP

University students in the UK could be put into lockdown for two weeks so they can return home for Christmas.

Students would be told to remain on campus with all classes taking place online between December 8 and December 22 to reduce the risk of spreading the virus across the country.

After completing quarantine, Covid-free students would be allowed to return home, The Guardian reported.

The proposal comes after international students told The National they were considering returning to the Middle East because of the way British universities had handled the coronavirus crisis.

Students in the UK remain furious at being locked in their dormitories as cases surged in halls of residence.

Universities minister Michelle Donelan is reportedly in talks with Universities UK and vice-chancellors in an effort to persuade them to back the campus lockdown plan.

The government said it was working out how students could return home in a way which “minimises the risks of spreading the virus”.

However, University of Bristol infectious disease expert Ellen Brooks Pollock said student lockdown would need to be extended for longer than two weeks for the plan to work.

She told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "If the infection is already widespread, then having this quiet period at the end of term is unlikely to prevent outbreaks within halls of residence.

“Two weeks might be enough for students living in small households with two or three other people, but in these halls of residence, where there’s a lot of people living together, it could lead to an outbreak.”

She added: “Two weeks wouldn’t be long enough at the end of term. It’s too late essentially.”

A student wearing full-body PPE walks towards the Coventry University Library . AFP

Agnes Cheba Ade, an International Economics student at Coventry University. Poring over her books in the library, far from her home in Equatorial Guinea, she is determined to keep up her studies despite coronavirus restrictions. AFP

Coventry University is confident it will weather the storm of Covid-19 and maintain its foreign students, who are a crucial source of income. AFP

On campus, where classes resumed in mid-September partially online, reminders for students to maintain social distancing are everywhere. AFP

A member of library staff wearing a face visor pushes a book trolley through the library. AFP

Up until now, Coventry University has not experienced the clusters of cases seen at other British universities, which caused them to isolate hundreds of students. AFP

A member of staff disinfects surfaces in Coventry University Library. AFP

A student studies in Coventry University Library whilst observing social distancing regulations. AFP

University and College Union general-secretary Jo Grady said the government appeared “obsessed” with Christmas when the focus should be on “what students and staff do now”.

She told the BBC: “Two weeks should not be the focus. It should be what they do now, what they do for the coming week.

“The best thing the government could do would be to acknowledge they made a mistake and apologise to students who came back to campus to be needlessly infected.”

Millions more facing new lockdown

Meanwhile, millions more are expected to face tougher restrictions with fears London could be the next city to move up on the UK's Covid alert system.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has requested the capital move to the “high” Tier 2 restrictions to curb a rising infection rate.

The Liverpool region is currently the only area under the toughest rules - with pubs not serving food forced to close.

Manchester is also at risk of moving to “very high” restrictions but local leaders are resisting the move. Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham said he will consider taking legal action if the government places the region under the strictest rules.

The UK yesterday recorded 137 coronavirus deaths, down on Tuesday’s 143, which was the highest daily death toll since June.

Scientists warn numbers will continue to rise.

Boris Johnson has rejected a two-week circuit-breaker lockdown called for by Labour.

“Let’s try to avoid the misery of another national lockdown,” he told MPs.

“I rule out nothing, of course, in combating the virus, but we are going to do it with the local, the regional approach that can drive down and will drive down the virus if it is properly implemented.”

A woman wears a face mask as she walks past a mural of a nurse in Manchester. Reuters

People attend an anti-lockdown protest outside the Senedd Cymru in Cardiff Bay, Wales. AP Photo

A sign appealing to the public to follow guidelines in Manchester. Reuters

A person wearing a face mask walks across London Bridge, with Tower Bridge in the background, at sunrise in London. AP Photo

A worker adjusts a face mask on a mannequin at a shop in Nottingham. Reuters

A man wearing a face mask walks along the River Mersey in Liverpool. Reuters

A person wears a Union Jack face mask in Newcastle Upon Tyne. Reuters

Members of the public wearing face masks stand near a statue of The Beatles in Liverpool. AP Photo