Life at University During Coronavirus

After a long, anticipating wait, students are finally going back to school, college and university. I started my first year of university just last week and moved into the halls of residence where I am living in a flat with six other students. Although I thought the change would be worrying with the current pandemic, I think that my university for sure were very organised and put the right precautions in place.

We were given staggered days and time slots to arrive on campus in order to guarantee that the site wasn’t bustling full of students. When we moved into our accommodation, we were given an hour to unpack everything with our parents before they had to leave to make sure that they wouldn’t come in contact with the next residents arriving. The whole room and bathroom had been cleaned and sanitised before my arrival.

As for walking around campus in general, we have to wear face masks everywhere apart from in our flat and there are plenty of sanitising stations placed around onsite. When entering and leaving lectures, we are required to sanitise our hands and wipe down our areas thoroughly. Face masks must always be worn in lectures and we all have to keep two metres apart. A one-way system has also been established and students have been given staggered lectures along with online classes to ensure that everybody keeps their distance.

After Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s recent announcement, we all received frequent updates from the university with information about the rules and regulations we must follow. We were told that the residents we are sharing our flat with are now our household and we are not allowed to have anybody else enter our accommodation. Flat parties or gatherings were to be shut down immediately and we have been requested to continue following the rule of six along with the new hands, face, space campaign.

The hands, face, space campaign urges the public to continue washing their hands, covering their face and making sure they keep socially distanced to control infection rates and avoid a second peak.

Although these new regulations have changed the experience we would have normally had at university, I know I speak for the majority when I say we as students are glad to be back in education and are happy to follow the guidelines put in place.