The mass testing of students here at Loughborough has to date only found 0.09% of those tested to be positive for Covid-19.
Loughborough University opened an Asymptomatic Testing centre on the 27th November and have so far (up until 13/12/20) tested 4521 students for Covid-19 using lateral flow tests.
Of these 4521 tests, 4 returned positive results, indicating that the prevalence of Covid-19 among students and staff being tested is extremely low at 0.09% of tests.
Other universities have reported similarly low rates of infection during their asymptomatic testing, with the University of Portsmouth reporting 0.2% of students tested positive. The University of Reading reported 0.4% of tests returning positive results, while the University of Cambridge has tested over 10,000 students and found no new Covid-19 cases from their asymptomatic testing.
Loughborough is also carrying out PCR tests for international students needing a negative test result before boarding flights home for Christmas. 451 of these tests have been carried out, with another 200 being scheduled before Christmas. These tests resulted in 2 cases being identified to date, although both individuals had previously tested positive for Covid during the term.
Compared to the national estimates for the number of people with Covid-19 this rate is extremely low, the latest ONS figures indicate that the prevalence of virus in Leicestershire is ~1% (ie 1 in 100 people).
Over recent weeks cases outside of University areas have been rising, while cases within the University and student dominated areas of the town have been falling with cases continuing to be in single digits in the University after falling heavily during the national lockdown.
Since the start of the University testing program in October, over 6,482 tests have been carried out on students and staff here at Loughborough.
The testing centre remains open until Christmas, so students and staff are still able to access a test should they wish to have one before returning home for Christmas. These can be booked by visiting: lboro.ac.uk/internal/coronavirus/testing/.
- ASYMPTOMATIC TESTING: We took a look at the testing centre on campus
- UNIVERSITY TO STOP IN-PERSON TEACHING: Find out more about the end of term
- STAGGERED RETURN FOR STUDENTS AFTER CHRISTMAS: How students are returning in January
- HOME FOR CHRISTMAS: The University COO updates students
