Bangor University has reported the number of current Covid positive cases related to the University is just one staff member and two students living in the wider community, as of Friday, 27 November.
The Welsh Government forced Bangor into a ‘hyper-local lockdown’ in October, due to the rapid increase of Covid-19 positive cases. The incident rate of Covid-19 in Bangor at the time was around 400 cases per 100,000 people, compared with 97 per 100,000 in Gwynedd as a whole.
The Welsh Government said cases in Bangor appeared to be closely associated with young people and the student population, but highlighted this was mainly due to social activities rather than participation in teaching related activities.
The latest update from Bangor University, posted on their website, said: “In the months before students returned to campus in September the University put in place extensive measures to protect both staff and students. Teaching was redesigned to provide a blended approach with online learning and in person face to face where it was safe to do so. The campus itself underwent extensive adaptations to enable students to study in a Covid secure environment.
“In the run-up to their arrival students were briefed on what would be expected of them when they came on to campus and they have been reminded of this regularly since arrival to try to ensure that everyone behaves responsibly. The majority of our students have and we would like to thank them for that, where behaviour hasn’t been appropriate we have used disciplinary measures to address it quickly.
“The University has developed an app which our students use to check-in to all of the activities they participate in on campus, teaching and social. As soon as a student books a test through the University portal or receives a positive test, we can trace all face to face activities the student has undertaken and can immediately alert other students involved. This provides us with a rich source of intelligence for the University and TTP colleagues, and it confirms that social activities, rather than participation in teaching activities, appears to be the key source of infection. We will therefore be continuing our Covid secure teaching activities; this will however be kept under review.
“Our overriding priority is the safety of the community, our students and our staff.”
Christmas
The University is currently setting up an Asymptomatic Test Site on Campus, which will be available for students to have a test for Covid-19, even if they don’t have any symptoms, before they return home for Christmas.
The test site will be open from the 30th November until the 8th December. Testing is on a voluntary basis, but all students are being encouraged to take 2 tests, at least two days apart, before leaving Bangor for the Christmas break.
If students test negative both times they can go home when in person on campus teaching has finished. Asymptomatic testing will tell students if they are infectious with the virus at that single point in time, students should plan to travel as close to the second test result as possible.
A positive test will mean that students will need to self-isolate at their term time address for 10 days and follow self-isolation guidance.
For more information and frequently asked questions on student testing click here: Frequently Asked Questions – COVID-19 (Coronavirus) information for students | Bangor University
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