No mass testing at University of Sunderland before students break up for Christmas

The university has said that it will not be carrying out mass coronavirus testing on its students ahead of the Christmas holidays as a large percentage already live in the city or surrounding areas.

This means that the majority of its students are local to the university and will not be travelling great distances to other parts of the country to spend time with their families over the festive season.

Instead it is advising students who are displaying Covid symptoms to book a test via the NHS.

The university also stressed that the number of positive cases at the University of Sunderland are relatively low.

A University of Sunderland spokesman said: "While some universities are setting up mass-testing centres, we have made the decision not to set up such a facility to offer non-compulsory tests for students with no Covid-19 symptoms before the Christmas break.

"This is mainly because a large percentage of our students commute to campus and positive infection cases at our university remain comparatively low."

However the likes of Newcastle University and Durham University, which both have a large number of students from other parts of the country, have confirmed that they will be carrying out mass coronavirus testing of students within the first two weeks of December.

The test is not compulsory, but students are advised to have one. Students will then be advised to travel home within the Government’s ‘student travel window’, from December 3 to 9.

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