York student diagnosed with coronavirus was a Vita Student tenant

It has now been confirmed that the University of York student who was diagnosed with the coronavirus is a tenant at Vita Student.

This has been confirmed as a result of Public Health England's ongoing investigation into the coronavirus in York.

Vita Student provides off-campus accommodation for students at both the University of York and York St. John.

PHE's investigation has also revealed that the student was not in Vita Student accommodation when they came into contact with the virus. However, they did return to their room on one occasion and stayed overnight.

The student did not meet residents or staff at Vita Student when they returned to their room. They also did not make use of communal facilities at Vita Student.

PHE will not be undertaking contract tracing with other residents of Vita Student.

The new information has been revealed as a result of Public Health England's investigations after they conducted further interviews with those diagnosed with the virus.

They stress that it does not change their risk assessment of "low" and that there is negligible risk of transmission of the virus.

A team made up of colleagues from both York universities and staff at Vita Student has been set up to provide additional support and advice for residents of the building.

The University of York provided a statement on their website, which reads: "We would like to reassure the students at Vita Student accomodation that PHE has stressed that they are not at risk and no further precautionary measures are necessary. There are no restrictions of any kind to students' ability to come and go from their apartments and to attend all classes and seminars as normal.

"We would also like to underline that the wellbeing, privacy and anonymity of the affected student remains paramount and we ask people to respect that."

The University of York's dedicated coronavirus call centre, which received over 240 calls over the weekend, remains open.

Max Bielby, Managing Director of Vita Student, said: "As confirmed by Public Health England (PHE), the affected student is a resident in our City of York accommodation, and did return to their apartment for an overnight period. We are reassured that the PHE investigation has established that the student did not come into contact with any other resident in the Vita Student development, and that no additional precautionary measures are required. Ensuring the safety and well-being of our residents is Vita Student’s utmost priority and we will continue to follow and share all guidance provided by PHE with our residents. Support and advice is being provided by Vita Student in conjunction with PHE as well as the University of York and York St John University to concerned residents."

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