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The government’s plan to screen all students before they drop out of university was questioned on Sunday after the UK’s largest academic union raised “serious concerns” about the accuracy of the Covid-19 tests being used and warned that this week’s mass student evacuation was a “recipe for chaos.”
The Union of Universities and Colleges (UCU) also said that many students have already returned home without being tested and it hopes that some will refuse to take the voluntary test because they do not want to isolate themselves in their residences.
The union also stressed that not all universities have agreed to participate in the government’s massive asymptomatic testing scheme, which begins Monday. The Department of Health and Welfare confirmed on Saturday that only 130 higher education institutions in the UK (79%) have expressed interest in taking part in the testing program. It is understood that at least 35 institutions are either conducting their own assessment regimen or not assessing students at all.
The government is providing universities with lateral flow tests, which can be self-administered by asymptomatic students and do not require laboratory processing, offering “quick results in one hour.”
However, these tests have been criticized by experts in the British medical journal as an “under-designed, costly, untested disaster,” with particular concerns about infected people receiving false negative results.
Government-backed assessments conducted by Public Health England’s Porton Down Laboratory and the University of Oxford suggest that the tests may miss up to half of Covid-19 cases, depending on who is using them, and who is not. are suitable for a “test and release” that will allow asymptomatic students to go home. The study found that the sensitivity of the test was reduced from 79% to 58% when it was used by self-taught members of the public rather than laboratory scientists .
In its guide to returning students, updated Tuesday, the Department of Education admitted that the test would not detect all positive cases.
“The flaws in the government’s plans for mass testing are a recipe for chaos that risks spreading the virus, precisely what they are designed to prevent,” said Jo Grady, UCU secretary general. “We have serious concerns about how this program will be carried out, particularly the risk of students being told, incorrectly, that they don’t have Covid, and then relying on their test result to travel home and spend Christmas with vulnerable family members. There are also questions to be answered as to whether the personnel in charge of administering the tests have received the medical training to evaluate them properly.
Students are encouraged to take two tests three days apart. All tests must be completed by the end of the term (December 9) and students who test positive are expected to immediately isolate themselves in their university accommodation for 10 days, along with their contacts and household members. Those who test negative are advised to return home “as soon as possible” after receiving the result: the University of Exeter, for example, advises students to “try to leave within 24 hours”.
The student “travel window”, the period in which the government asks all students to travel home, will run from December 3-9, which means that mass testing and the travel window will end the same day.
UCU said many students still don’t know what days they will receive their exams, and that testing hundreds of thousands of people in such a short period of time, while following social distancing rules, would be “extremely challenging.” “The government chose not to listen to us when we warned that the massive movement of students in September put the nation’s security at risk, and has ignored requests from its scientists and UCU to move online learning to help control the virus.” Grady said. . “By choosing to continue learning in person until the last minute, ministers are banking on the safety of staff, students and the nation, betting everything on an unproven testing program.”
Alistair Jarvis, Managing Director of Universities UK, said: “Over the past few weeks, university staff across the UK have worked with the government at a considerable pace to develop and implement enhanced asymptomatic tests for students, as part of the next phase of pilot tests. for the largest network of diagnostic testing facilities in British history. In addition to ensuring that students can return home this Christmas, these pilots will allow vital lessons to be learned about the nationwide scale-up of asymptomatic testing from which other industries and society as a whole will benefit substantially. “
A government spokesperson said: “We have established a personalized guide for universities designed by public health professionals to allow students to return home during the Christmas holidays and minimize the risk of transmission.
“The tests are safe, easy to use and do not require trained medical personnel to administer them. Like the tests available at our regional test sites, individuals will be asked to sample themselves with the help of trained personnel. “
