The UK Government should be prepared to "hit the brakes" on students returning to university campuses if cases begin to rise again, a leading scientist has warned.
Dr Mike Tildesley, reader in mathematics at the University of Warwick and member of the SPI-M advisory group, said ministers should be "cautious in the weeks to come" as the four nations gradually dial back coronavirus restrictions.
He added that the return of students should be organised "in terms of need" as — although cases, hospital occupancy and deaths are falling — the country is still at a "critical phase".
His comments come as a new study examining the spread of Covid-19 on campuses last autumn found the case for staggering returns of "limited value".
Scientists suggested instead that testing students every three days and self-isolating positive cases “are likely to be much more important for reducing transmission during term time”.
The study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, also found that large halls of residence posed a high risk for large outbreaks last year, yet the threat to communities living close to university campuses was low in most cases.
The research was published online as a pre-print and is part of the documents under consideration by the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies.
Dr Tildesey told reporters: “We would always emphasise the need to be cautious with any form of reopening so the return of some students over the next month, I think really needs to be done in terms of need for students to be back.
“And I think it’s really important to be aware of the background situation – the prevalence is key, and I think it’s really important that we have the opportunity to respond.
“So if we do see that there is a rise in incidence as reopening happens – whether this be students returning to campuses or any other form of reopening – we need to be prepared to hit the brakes, as it were.
“I think a cautious approach has to be the way forward at this point in time – this is not just universities, this is generally.
“We do know that obviously things have been coming down for some time, cases, hospital occupancy, and deaths have been coming down, but we’re in a very critical phase here.
“We still have very pretty high numbers, we have pretty high hospital occupancy and we need to really ease our way out of lockdown.
“I think we need to be pretty cautious in the weeks to come when it comes to reopening – which includes students returning to campus.”
The UK Government is currently working with universities to offer twice-weekly testing to all students currently eligible to attend.
