NICOLA Sturgeon has been urged to back the mass testing of international students amid fears of a second wave of coronavirus.
Scottish Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie said up to 50,000 students will be arriving from “virus hotspots” and called for them all to be tested.
He told the First Minister: “Make it happen.”
Analysis shows the higher education sector is facing a £500million deficit, which is largely due to a reduction in international students to Scottish universities.
Further restrictions on international movement may be imposed over fears covid-19 infection rates are rising across Europe.
However, universities will be open again soon and tens of thousands of foreign students are expected to study here.
As revealed by the Daily Record, the Scottish Government’s own coronavirus advisory group flagged up the risk of students coming from countries with higher rates of covid-19.
One of the Government’s advisers, Professor Devi Sridhar, separately called for all students to be tested on arrival and five days later.
Raising the issue at Holyrood, Rennie said the international arrivals would probably be the “biggest single influx” of people since the pandemic.
He said staff, students and local communities are anxious about local outbreaks and asked if Sturgeon agreed with Sridhar.
The First Minister said it was a “really important issue” which was ”very high up in my mind at the moment”.
She said the Government is in discussions with universities and would consider Sridhar’s call “very carefully”.
Rennie added that the country would need to act fast if this form of mass testing is to occur, and urged Sturgeon to listen to his adviser.
After quizzing Sturgeon, he said: "The First Minister warns that testing would not catch every single case of Covid-19, however it can play an important part in keeping students, staff and local communities safe.
"The First Minister regretted not testing all new residents in care homes. I don’t want her to make the same mistake again."
A minute of the Government’s covid-19 advisory group from July stated: “The group acknowledged that the arrival of university students from elsewhere in the UK and countries overseas with higher rates of coronavirus is a risk factor which will need to be controlled, although this was not an on-going risk.”
It added: “It would be important for these students to understand how to behave positively in line with Scottish rules and expectations for shopping, transport and social settings as well as education settings and universities’ arrangements should support and encourage this.”
