Students may have to stay at university over Christmas to stop coronavirus spread

University students could be forced to remain on campus over the Christmas holidays if the coronavirus situation does not improve, the Health Secretary has said.

Matt Hancock's comments come in the wake of an outbreak at Glasgow University, where 124 students have tested positive for Covid-19 and more than 600 are self-isolating.

In Dundee, 500 Abertay University students have been asked to self-isolate in student accommodation blocks in which three people have tested positive.

Coronavirus rules in Scotland, where two households are banned from meeting indoors, mean students are not allowed to go home at all during term time.

Jason Leitch, the country's national clinical director, confirmed that students who have moved into halls and flats on campus are now a separate household to their parents. He wrote on Twitter: "The law is clear: they can't meet indoors with another household – even mum and dad. Sorry."

Students have urged the Government not to blame them for causing the second virus wave following remarks from ministers that young people must pay particular attention to social distancing rules.

The Government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) warned earlier this month that there is a "critical risk" students will fuel a national surge of Covid-19 cases when they return home at the end of term.

Asked whether students might have to be banned from going home to their families over the Christmas break, Mr Hancock said he hoped that could be avoided but he had "learned not to rule things out".

The Health Secretary told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "One of the challenges we have is making sure that people are as safe as possible and that includes not spreading between the generations."

He said forcing students to remain on campus over Christmas was "not our goal" adding: "We just have to work on all contingencies at this stage, and I know that people understand that. It's an unprecedented crisis, and so we do have to work on contingency plans."

Multiple universities are grappling with outbreaks on campus following parties and social gatherings during freshers' week. Dozens of students at St Andrews, Oxford Brookes, Liverpool and Manchester Metropolitan universities are self-isolating following clusters of positive cases.

The vice-chancellors of Scottish universities met for crisis talks with the Scottish Government on Thursday and agreed to ban students from going to pubs or bars in an attempt to contain the outbreaks. Students will also be made to download the Protect Scotland test and trace app.

Sage warned earlier this month that major coronavirus outbreaks at universities were "highly likely", particularly at parties and in halls of residence. The scientists said epidemic modelling within universities suggested that large outbreaks are possible over a time period of weeks and "could peak towards the end of the term".

The UK's largest union representing lecturers said it was "completely irresponsible" to allow more students to go back to university now outbreaks have begun to emerge (the graphic below shows the increasing infection rate in younger age groups).

Jo Grady, the general secretary of the University and Colleges Union, urged the Government to ban in-person teaching and move all lecturers and seminars online. She said "threatening to lock students up over the festive period is not the solution".

Downing Street did not rule out keeping students on campus over Christmas in the event of outbreaks, with the Prime Minister's official spokesman saying: "What is important in the event there is a specific outbreak on a campus is that steps are taken to ensure that the virus is not spread more widely."

The First Minister of Wales, Mark Drakeford, said his government would "certainly contemplate" forcing students to stay at university over the holidays to help stop the spread of the virus, adding that students "travelling across the country does bring an extra risk".

A spokesman for Universities UK, which represents vice-chancellors, said universities would continue to follow official guidance but sounded caution over the suggestion that students would not be able to return home at Christmas.

"It is clear that this is not currently Government policy and we do not believe this course of action has been recommended by any health bodies or other experts," the spokesman said.