London, Sep 27 (IANS) About 1,700 Manchester Metropolitan Univesity students have been asked to self-isolate after 127 pupils tested positive for the novel coronavirus, according to media reports.
In a statement on Saturday, the Manchester City Council said that the restrictions affect students in accommodation blocks at Birley campus and Cambridge Halls after “127 students have tested positive with a number of others symptomatic or self-isolating”, the BBC reported.
Meanwhile, a university spokesman said disciplinary action will be taken against any breaches.
Students across Manchester have been urged to attend virtual freshers’ events and avoid big parties.
Meanwhile, the order has left students confused as some of them had no warning of a lockdown and are now trapped in halls of residence.
Joe Barnes, who recently started at the Manchester Metropolitan University, told the BBC on Saturday that self-isolation had “left the morale of my flat really low”.
Student Megan Tingy said that “we haven’t received any emails from university about this (self-isolation order) and they seem to be holding us in against our will”.
Trisha Kakooza, another student, said that “we had eight hours to go get food to last us for two weeks”.
Most parts of Greater Manchester have been subject to stricter restrictions since July after a spike in coronavirus cases, the BBC reported.
The rate has also doubled in the city of Manchester to 1,026 positive tests in the week up to September 22, compared to 515 cases in the previous week.
The lockdown comes as students in Scotland were told not to go to pubs, parties or restaurants this weekend in an effort to stem the spread of the virus.
–IANS
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