Nearly 1,000 people test Covid-19 positive at UK’s Durham University

London, Oct 16 (SocialNews.XYZ) Almost 1,000 students and staff members at the UK's Durham University have tested positive for the novel coronavirus within the past week.

The university, located in northern England, said in a statement on Thursday that 958 students and six staff members were infected in the seven days up to Wednesday, reports Xinhua news agency.

A spokesman said: "Over the last seven days, the number of reported positive coronavirus cases in students and staff has been steady, with approximately 100-150 new reported cases each day.

"We are proactively and regularly monitoring and managing the situation with local and national public health experts and taking appropriate action where required."

He added that all affected staff and students were self-isolating in accordance with NHS guidance and were "receiving our full support".

Two of the university's 17 colleges, St Mary's and Collingwood, had new restrictions imposed since October 8 to try to limit the spread.

Since the start of the autumn term, a total of 1,209 students and 11 staff at Durham University have tested positive for the coronavirus.

The spokesman said the teaching and wider student experience activity "continues both online and face-to-face, in coronavirus-secure settings".

The university has about 4,000 staff members and 20,500 students.

Meanwhile, the Newcastle University said 749 students and 11 staff tested positivein the seven days up to Wednesday, bringing the total number of cases to nearly 2,000 since the start of autumn term.

Some large UK universities which have major outbreaks, including the University of Manchester, the University of Sheffield and the Manchester Metropolitan University, already have halted face-to-face teaching and shifted to online classes.

Source: IANS