Awaiting a ‘tsunami’ of COVID – Lecturers fear students’ return

Dr Stephanie Coen, assistant professor in health geography at the University of Nottingham, is eager to get back to teaching in person. But she fears that with students not required to wear masks when classes start in a few weeks, squeezing them like ‘sardines’ into her tiny room for seminars will be unsafe, writes Anna Fazackerley for The Guardian.

On Thursday 9 September the education secretary, Gavin Williamson, reiterated instructions for universities to give students the return to normality they want, with face-to-face teaching this autumn. But academics say the government has not ensured this will be safe, failing to give clear guidance that masks, social distancing and proper ventilation should be compulsory in classrooms.

Last week, two of the government’s scientific advisers warned that freshers’ week events this month could lead to “very large spikes” in COVID cases. Now branches of the academics’ union are holding emergency meetings to address staff fears.
Full report on The Guardian site