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Dress codes are nothing new for students going out in Manchester: no shoes, no football shirts and, increasingly, no men’s bags. But a student party this weekend had a special entry requirement: Covid.
According to one of the most recent from the University of Manchester, the “Covid Positive” party in the residence halls of the university’s Fallowfield campus was disrupted by security on Saturday. It is just one of the growing instances of risky behavior by students during lockdown restrictions.
“There was a flat party a few days ago that had a policy that you could only enter if you were positive. It was like his health and safety measure, ”said the 18-year-old physics student.
If security hadn’t come, it could have been a great party. According to David Regan, Manchester’s director of public health, the incidence rate in the city’s undergraduate age group 17-21 is now 2,935 per 100,000 people, almost six times higher than the rest of Manchester, which now has the highest rate in the UK.
By Sunday, 1,041 students at the University of Manchester had tested positive, most of them living in hallways, leaving thousands of others in isolation. A smaller outbreak at nearby Manchester Metropolitan University in late September was deemed serious enough to force 1,700 students into a two-week quarantine, with 531 positive cases in the first two weeks of term.
Across the UK, university towns have seen major outbursts since students arrived last month, lured by the promise of face-to-face teaching that has already been canceled as Covid sweeps through campuses. Confined to their floors instead of painting the city red, some halls have been turned into 24-hour party palaces, raising fears not only of further contagion, but also of risky behavior.
In Newcastle, where more than 800 cases have been reported at its two universities, three students died last weekend after apparently using drugs in the hallways. While the circumstances of the deaths are unclear, some students wonder if they would have occurred if the students had been able to go to pubs and clubs.
For Professor Fiona Measham, a professor of criminology at the University of Liverpool and a world expert on club drugs, it was a tragedy waiting to happen.
“This is something I’ve been warning anyone who would listen to all summer,” he said. “Everyone was so busy with the coronavirus and no one thought about what would happen when the students returned. There are no discos and pubs close at 10pm. Nightclubs are a semi-secure space, they have registered door personnel and security, larger clubs often have paramedics, they have spaces to relax. If you don’t have nightclubs open, you lose that safety net. “
On the Trinity Square campus of Northumbria University, the parties still take place despite many students isolating themselves, a 19-year-old said. “There are still messages in the group chat asking where the next party will be,” he said.
The atmosphere in the hallways is “surreal,” he said: “My roommates and I walk through floors that have sticky notes on their windows showing they have a crown, like the red plague marks during the Black Death, and the silence of the uni is deafening. “
He complained that self-isolating students kept going out to smoke, knocking on doors and elevator buttons to get out of buildings.
“I’ve talked to some people here and there waiting for the elevator and all that and it’s the same message, that the university made us come back just to take our money,” he said.
The University of Nottingham, which is running its own testing program, said 425 students had confirmed active cases of the virus in the week ending Friday, October 2. The University of Sheffield has reported 583 student cases since September 28.
Back in Manchester, both universities announced the cancellation of all face-to-face teaching on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Covid continues to run rampant among the 40,000 students at the University of Manchester. A social studies student who isolated herself in the hallways of Richmond Park said she had a spreadsheet that showed how many cases were in Poplar Court, where she lives. “Twenty-five of the 32 apartments are isolated,” he said. “Six of the eight in my apartment have tested positive. I didn’t have a test, but I’m pretty sure I have it now. “
Local MPs Jeff Smith and Afzal Khan said they received fewer complaints about student parties than in a “normal” freshman week. But students say there have been “big parties on the floor,” with students gathering in large groups outside their dormitories. A “rave” made to the local media after a video of hundreds of students dancing to the sound of a sound system transported in a shopping cart went viral.
Things have calmed down now that teaching has started, the social studies student said, though Covid Positive parties seem to spread like the virus: “There are always invitations flying over WhatsApp saying things like: ‘Come to the 8th floor, everyone we’ve got ‘Rona’. It’s hard to know how serious they are because I haven’t been, but some people feel a lot of pressure to get out. There is a tremendous amount of insecurity in rookie week as everyone wants to make friends. There is a fear that if you don’t go out, you will be alone. “
A spokesperson for the University of Manchester said: “The university is aware of this incident and we strongly condemn this irresponsible behavior and conduct.
“We are urgently investigating this and will address responsible students through our internal disciplinary processes. Universities meet daily with Greater Manchester Police and Manchester City Council to review incidents and respond accordingly.
“The vast majority of our students behave responsibly and we support them if they isolate themselves. As a university, we will continue to do everything we can to keep our students, staff and the wider Manchester community safe. ”
