Coronavirus Scotland: Students could be stuck in halls at Christmas - Money

Scottish students face a ‘realistic possibility’ that they may not be allowed to return home over Christmas if coronavirus is not ‘contained’ , Scotland’s Education Secretary has warned.

John Swinney said there is a ‘realistic possibility’ that university students could be asked to stay in halls or other university accommodation at Christmas.

However, he stressed the Scottish Government ‘want to avoid that at all possible cost’.

Phased returns home and back to university are being considered by the UK’s governments as part of an attempt to limit further infections by the movement of ‘substantial’ numbers of people around the country.

Speaking on the BBC Good Morning Scotland radio programme, the Deputy First Minister said the return of students at Christmas ‘without a doubt’ depends on the coronavirus infection rate being reduced.

Scotland’s Education Secretary, John Swinney has warned there is a ‘realistic possibility’ that students could be stuck in university halls over Christmas

Last month, thousands of students were locked down in their halls of residence in a bid to curb the rise in the number of cases on campus. Pictured: Student entertained themselves by writing messages on the windows using post-it notes in accommodation in Dundee

Asked if that means students could be forced to remain in halls of residence, he said: ‘We want to avoid that at all possible cost because we want students to return home.

Self-isolation row as No10 confirms it IS looking at halving it to SEVEN days for those who come into contact with Covid carriers

Confusion reigned over Britain’s self-isolation rules today after Boris Johnson and Nicola Sturgeon suggested England and Scotland could end up with different quarantine rules.

Downing Street this afternoon confirmed it is investigating whether the current rules that force those who come into contact with a coronavirus carrier to quarantine for 14 days could be relaxed.

It came after Matt Hancock fuelled hopes that the period could be slashed to seven days – pointing out France already has a lower timescale.

But at her daily press conference today Ms Sturgeon, the Scottish First Minister, said that she had ‘no plans’ to alter the 14-day period, with her top medic suggesting there was currently no evidence to support it.

Scotland’s national clinical director Jason Leitch said he was not aware of any scientific advice in any part of the UK that would support a reduction from the current 14-day period, or 10 days from the date a person’s symptoms end.

Mr Leitch said: ‘We have no plans with the present clinical advice to change that in any way.’

Ms Sturgeon added: ‘We have no plans at the moment to reduce the period of self-isolation. We keep all of this under review; we don’t want people to live under the most severe restrictions for longer than is absolutely necessary.’

The Health Secretary insisted that the decision on whether to cut the quarantine period for those who come into contact with infected individuals from 14 days would be ‘entirely led by the clinical science’.

He played down the idea that the reduction was needed because Britons were flouting instructions from contact tracers to stay at home, praising testing tsar Baroness Harding despite Tory calls for her to quit.

But he said France had reduced the amount of time people have to isolate based on scientific guidance.

‘It isn’t about the compliance issue. It’s about the overall clinical judgment of what time is required for isolation,’ Mr Hanock told Sky News.

‘Obviously I’d rather have isolation as short as is reasonably possible because of the impact it has on people’s lives, but it must be safe.’

‘But I have to be realistic that, if we have a situation where the virus has not been controlled, then we will have to look at other scenarios and other plans.’

Mr Swinney added: ‘There is a lot of thinking and work going on within the Scottish Government, with Universities Scotland, the institutions, with the National Union of Students, and also with the governments in England, Wales and Northern Ireland to try to make sure this can be undertaken as safely as possible.

‘But there obviously is a risk that if the virus is not contained, then we may not be able to support the return of students to their homes.

‘We want to avoid that but it is a realistic possibility.’

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon told the Scottish Government’s coronavirus briefing on Monday that she understands students will be ‘worried and anxious’ about the prospect of being unable to return home at Christmas but she does not want to give them ‘false assurances’.

‘We will do everything we can over the next few weeks to set out a path that sees you able to return home for Christmas, that is what we all want to see,’ she said.

Ms Sturgeon confirmed the Scottish Government is looking at phased term dates and possible testing of students and issues of people returning home where there are vulnerable people.

The First Minister added: ‘We will set that out as early as we can, with as much certainty as we can, but the really difficult thing in all of this is that we are living through an inherently uncertain and unpredictable pandemic.

‘That means we can always give the absolute cast-iron certainty on anything right now that I know people desperately want and I desperately would like to be able to give.’

Scottish Labour education spokesman Iain Gray said: ‘Students have already been at the sharp end of ad-hoc policy-making by the Scottish Government and now face further dithering and delays.

‘We must have assurances that the Government has a robust plan in place to ensure a safe return of young people to their families for Christmas, including the testing of students before they can safely return home and then again when they head back to university after the holidays.’

Scottish Conservative education spokesman Jamie Greene said: ‘(The SNP) can ill-afford to repeat their chaotic mistakes that students endured when they returned to university in September, leaving many alone and with no support.

‘John Swinney seems to be taking a ‘just wait and see’ approach, which offers very little comfort that thousands of young people will actually be able to see their families this Christmas.

‘Proper planning, co-ordination and communication is needed this time round and the SNP must work constructively with other parts of the UK over this to get it right.’

This comes after thousands of students were locked down in their halls of residence last month in a bid to curb the rise in the number of cases on campus.

Students in Glasgow University, Abertay University in Dundee, St Andrew University and Aberdeen University were forced to self isolate in September after outbreaks on campus.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the Government are looking at phased term dates and testing of students. Pictured: Glasgow University students queue at a pop up test centre at the Murano Street Student Village last month

Ms Sturgeon said today that she understands students will be ‘worried and anxious’ about the prospect of being unable to return home at Christmas but she does not want to give them ‘false assurances’

Locked-down freshers issued cries for help from isolation in their rooms using post-it notes to write messages on their windows.

National clinical director, Jason Leitch, said: ‘We need you not to have house parties, I could not be more clear.’

Today Nicola Sturgeon says she has ‘no plans’ to change Scottish self-isolation rules amid fears that Britons are flouting the 14-day quarantine.

It came after Matt Hancock fuelled hopes that the required quarantine period could be slashed to seven days.

But at her daily press conference, Ms Sturgeon said that she had ‘no plans’ to alter the 14-day period, with her top medic suggesting there was currently no evidence to support it.