Preston students feeling 'anxious' over possible Christmas isolation

Students up and down the country were told they may be facing the harsh reality of a Christmas at university this year, after an interview on Times Radio with Health Secretary Matt Hancock.

He said that he was not ruling out the prospect of asking students to stay on campus over the Christmas period, amid coronavirus clusters in university halls.

For Kate Martin, a masters student in Asia Pacific Studies at UCLan, this proposal would be devastating for her and her family. She travels back to County Durham every year to spend 10 days with her loved ones.

She said: ”Living away from family as a student can be difficult at the best of times. It’s only natural that you become homesick and usually this would be remadied by a quick trip home on the weekend.

“Being apart from family can place a strain on your mental health and wellbeing as I have seen with so many of my friends who also found themselves living away from home under lockdown in Preston who ended up suffering from depression and anxiety. The majority of students live in shared housing where the kitchen, living room and bathroom are communal, this increases the chances of Covid-19 spreading as you can’t police your flatmates movements.

“This leaves many feeling anxious and worried in their own home as they don’t feel safe or shielded. I always go home at Christmas so I can spend time with my family, especially my niece and nephew and my nan who have missed so much over lockdown.

"I would be so gutted if I couldn’t go home - I hope people will consider their actions in the months running up to Christmas and think about those who are shielding such as the elderly who most look forward to Christmas or students who live away from home and can only afford to travel back on holidays.”

When asked whether University students would be encouraged to stay on campus over winter in an interview on Times Radio, the Health Secretary said: “We have said that students should stay at university until Christmas...we don’t rule out the suggestion you just made but I don’t want to have to say that. It is some time off.

“I very much hope that we won’t have to say that, but as I say I don’t rule it out.”

“The important thing is in the short-term, students once they’ve gone to university should stay at university so as not to spread the disease.”

Experts have now expressed concern about the risk of spreading the disease into the students’ local communities if they travelled home over the festive season.

Minutes from a meeting of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) earlier this month warned the risks of outbreaks from higher education institutions are more likely towards the end of term when students return home.

Outdoor adventure leadership student Adam Holley also lives in shared accommodation and says Christmas would be ‘mentally straining’ if he was told he had to isolate 250 miles away from loved ones.

He said: “It is hard living away from family during these time especially when I can’t go back and visit if I need to. When you’re used to seeing them everyday to not seeing them for months is difficult.

“Christmas is a time to be spent with your family. If I was alone in my uni house it would be even more mentally straining because my family would be together and I would have to rely on telephone calls to speak to them.

“I think the government has handled it pretty poorly, there are some aspects where the government has let down the entire population.”

The news comes after 600 undergraduate studetns were told to self isolate after a Covid-19 outbreak at the University of Glasgow.

And in Dundee, 500 Abertay University students were also asked to self isolate in student accommodation.

Other institutions are following suit, with Liverpool John Moores moving their tutorials completely online to help halt the spread of the virus.

Shelley Perry, Clinical Director at Breathe therapies in Preston, said: "Each year, we see a peak in people reaching out for support with mental health over the Christmas period already, so to add isolation on top of this could be detrimental to student’s wellbeing.

"83 per cent of young adults who struggled at Christmas in 2019 explained that it was due to loneliness. On this basis, the regulations that suggest university students stay in halls over Christmas will be detrimental to their mental health.

"Colleges and Universities are really going to need to up their game to offer support and systems for engagement and communication for all students, but especially the more vulnerable ones."