covid positive party
Undergraduates confined to their halls of residence are throwing 24-hour parties as they remain under stringent restrictions.
University students are throwing 'Covid positive' parties as they desperately try to salvage their social lives amid draconian lockdown measures on campuses.

Freshers at the University of Manchester and Northumbria University say undergraduates confined to their halls of residence are throwing 24-hour parties as they remain under stringent restrictions.

Meanwhile the University of Exeter today confirmed a number of students had been sent home for breaching Covid guidelines.

One physics student at the University of Manchester told the Guardian that a party at their Fallowfield campus halls of residence was broken up by security on Saturday.

The 18-year-old told the paper: 'There was a flat party a few days ago which had a policy that you could only get in if you were positive. It was like their health-and-safety measure.'

A student from Northumbria University also told the Guardian that parties were still rife in halls.

Just days ago, police were called to break up a fight between students at a 'house party' at a locked-down halls of residence.

A video showed police arriving at what appears to be a late-night gathering at the university's Birley Halls of residence - one of those under lockdown.

Residents said the youngsters were hosting a house party involving 'at least 20 students' when a fight broke out at 4.30am last Friday.

More than 80 universities in the UK have reported at least 5,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 among students and staff.

Manchester University, where there have been more than 1,000 cases since September 21, and Manchester Metropolitan University have today shifted to virtual learning.

The University of Sheffield, where more than 500 students and staff have tested positive since the start of term, will also move to online lectures from Friday.

This comes as more than 300 students and eight members of staff at the University of Birmingham have tested positive for Covid, it was revealed today.

More than 300 students and eight members of staff also tested positive for the virus between September 30 and October 6.

The Manchester universities said they had made the decision together in consultation with the area's director of public health, supported by Public Health England.

They added they would increase the level of online learning for most programmes from Wednesday until October 30, which would be reviewed on October 23, and face-to-face teaching would continue for some clinical or practice-based classes.

The University of Sheffield said face-to-face teaching would continue on Wednesday and Thursday before it is suspended from Friday, with in-person classes to resume on October 19.

The move to online learning is a drastic step to stop the spread of coronavirus among the student population.

But they will increase demands for students to receive refunds for tuition fees.

On Monday night the University of Nottingham revealed it had recorded 425 cases of the virus among staff and students.

Some 400 students and eight staff at the East Midlands institution are now self isolating.

Institutions in Northern Ireland are also bearing the brunt of the crisis, with Queen's University Belfast 'closely monitoring' an increase in coronavirus cases.

It has been reported that 166 students and staff at the south Belfast university have tested positive for Covid-19.

Liverpool University saw 177 staff and students have tested positive as of last week.

Bath University has had a spike of 18 cases in the last 24 hours, taking its total to 48 new cases in seven days.

More than 850 students at Northumbria and Newcastle universities were told to self-isolate after testing positive for coronavirus.

On October 2, Northumbria University confirmed 770 of its students have contracted Covid-19, with 78 of those displaying symptoms.

And a further 94 confirmed Covid-19 cases were also recorded among students at Newcastle University, bringing the city total to 864.