STUDENTS will get to pick if they self-isolate in their uni digs or at their parents’ house, a minister admitted yesterday.
Terrified of wrecking millions of family Christmases, the Government has launched an all-out bid to get undergraduates home for the festive holiday.
Universities Minister Michelle Donelan said students who have a housemate with Covid can choose to sit out self-isolation back at their family home if they want.
They will need to have a negative Covid test to be allowed to head back to their family home.
But because it can take so long for the virus to take hold and show up on a test, students will still need to self-isolate for 14 days.
Ms Donelan said this “bespoke” offer was being made to help reunite millions of families.
She told BBC Breakfast: “The same as if you or I got a positive test, they (students) will have to isolate under law and this allows them enough time to be able to do that.
“Again, if their housemates were traced, then they could either get a test and if they get a test and tested negative, what we’re saying for students is they will have a bespoke offer.
“They can then isolate at home, in terms of their parents’ home or their carer’s home, if they choose to.
“If they are traced and they have a positive test, then yes they will have to isolate on campus or in their university accommodation.”
But the loophole will spark fears that students could end up silently spreading the killer bug back home at the end of term.
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