BREAKING: Bristol Uni confirms 121 active Covid cases

Bristol Uni has confirmed 119 active Covid cases among students, and two cases among staff.

The university has now decided to publish weekly Covid case numbers, bringing the university into line with others up and down the country.

This U-turn comes after days of press and student enquiries asking how many cases of Covid the university is currently dealing with.

On Friday, the university confirmed multiple cases of Covid amongst students, however refused to provide an exact number.

A university spokesperson said that the two staff members confirmed to have Covid have been working from home and have not been on campus.

This decision bring Bristol into line with universities such as Durham, Oxford, St Andrews, Bath, Sheffield, Nottingham, and many more who have been publishing either daily or weekly updates on Covid cases in their communities.

Although the university did confirm total case numbers, they did not say how many students are self-isolating, nor whether the figures come from Covid tests conducted through the NHS, or whether the data came from the internal self-reporting system.

The original decision not to publish statistics was heavily criticised by the Bristol UCU – the union representing staff – and in an opinion piece published by this outlet.

Bristol SU had also criticised the university’s communications with students, saying in a statement to The Bristol Tab: “It is important to us that students receive open and honest communication around covid. We’ve had feedback that students have found some communication from the university to be confusing or too slow.

“Currently we’re specifically asking for open and honest communication about any outbreaks as they happen and clear announcements if another lockdown is looking likely.”

In a snap poll on The Bristol Tab’s Instagram story, 95 per cent said that the uni should publish case numbers, with only 5 per cent opposing.

This is a developing story and will be updated with the university’s statement when it becomes available.

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