Possible plans for pre-Christmas University lockdown revealed

Image courtesy of: Tahmid Morshed

The Government may be planning University-wide lockdowns across England prior to the Christmas break to slow down the spread of Covid-19 upon students’ return home.

The alleged lockdown is to take place from December 8th to December 22nd, ending days after the end of term and before Christmas itself, leaving students with little time with families.

Tyler Harvey, a first-year Anthropology student at Kent, stated that he believes these restrictions will “be like the pubs shutting at 10pm, with loads of people all leaving at once on crowded trains.”

The potential restrictions, which were originally seen by the Guardian, are in the early stages of planning and no formal advice has been brought forward yet.

Although the University of Kent has a comparably low number of cases compared to other universities throughout the country, it is believed that the Government’s plans will be put into effect on all campuses.

An email released by the University on Friday the 16th of October thanked Kent students for continuing to follow the restrictions and their vigilance as well as indicating support for those who have to self-isolate.

A first-year Sociology student, who wishes to remain anonymous, said: “this definitely shouldn’t cost £9250 because I’m learning a lot less than I would’ve done.

“However, this was an unfortunate and unforeseeable situation, so we were not prepared. Just got to take it as it comes.”

The Conservative Government promised last week that it would allow students to travel home for Christmas and wouldn’t be forcing them to isolate on campus, with the lockdown being a preventative measure.

The University has been approached for a comment.