UK university reopenings risk public health

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Plans to reopen universities:-

All the educational institutes, including all schools, colleges, and universities, have been closed since the onset of coronavirus. The students faced educational losses of almost six months. To compensate these losses, the UK government announced to reopen universities now, around one million students are going to rejoin universities. While there are still risks of the spread of coronavirus, there will be a massive rush of students returning to universities. It will be a challenging task for universities to handle such a massive number of students at once. The universities lack proper arrangements to minimize the spread of the virus. It will induce all the students and teachers to pandemic disaster if necessary precautions are not taken practically. 

Lack of preparedness in universities:-

Around one million students are ready to return back universities this week; the universities lack preparedness for students and staff's safety. The experts say that the government is showing less interest in saving its young nation from the pandemic; it will sleepwalk the whole nation into a disaster of coronavirus again. While the academic unions warn the government that it is too dangerous to start face to face teaching. The government should prevent students and teachers from returning to universities now in order to save them from the second peak of the pandemic. According to health experts, the pandemic's second wave is always more dangerous than the first wave. There may be a dramatic increase in outbreaks of coronavirus if any of the students get the infection. Unfortunately, the government is failed to make a proper policy for safety. 

Public health crisis:-

The government is showing lesser interest in implementing safety measures on the university level, which will undoubtedly harm students and the staff of the institute. The University and College Union (UCU) comprises almost 120,000 educational institutes, Professors, and other staff. They accused the present government of putting the whole nation in a health crisis by reopening universities this autumn. They alarmed that the UK universities are just some weeks away from a terrific situation of sleepwalking into a disaster.

Congregation of students in universities:-

A large number of students will come back to universities from different areas of the UK. It will cause a sudden congregation in the universities. The management will face difficulties to manage such a vast amount of students. Moreover, students will face traveling risks. When they travel through buses, there will be more chances of the spread of coronavirus. The General Secretary, Mr. Jo Grady, said that the universities are going to be care homes for the second wave of coronavirus, as a large number of students are ready to come back at once. Though pandemic is still there but universities are taking steps to start classes with proper SOPs. law essay writing service uk is also announcing discount packages for students to finish their assignments even being at home too.

The hostels will be crowded fully once all the students are back. So it will create many hassles while controlling them to prevent the spread of coronavirus. The university management has to manage the limited number of students in hostel rooms. If they are five in number before, now they have to set to remain only two in that room in order to maintain physical distance and prevent the infections. 

Fears of parents and students:-

All such conditions induced fears and uncertainty among parents and students to come back to everyday university life. The universities are not well versed with proper precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the virus, so the parents are frightened to send back their children to universities. On the other hand, undergraduate students suffered disruption in their studies two times in the last year by strikes. It is now mandatory for them to rejoin face to face classes on campuses in order to compensate for previous study loss.

Political pressure on Ministers:-

As commenting on the safety of the reopening of universities put political pressure on Ministers, they are trying now to build a thorough policy to maintain safety and prevention on campuses. The Minister of Education, Mr. Boris Johnson, said that experts are working out to make all the universities safe and infectious-free for the returning of millions of students. All the universities will be funded exceptionally to maintain preventive measures, including the health test kits for students and staff. Nursing staff will be assigned to every university to cope with the medical issues of students. 

Financial issues faced by universities:-

The UK universities are already struggling financially, as many students demanded a refund of their fees because there were no classes in the universities in the time of lockdown. While the now successful and safe reopening of universities requires a lot of funds to make campuses safe from coronavirus. The universities have to recruit new teaching staff now because the class strengths are going to change to implement the rule of physical distancing. It will enhance the number of classrooms. Thus the more teachers will be required to deliver lectures.  

Hot-spots for coronavirus:-

The US reported that thousands of coronavirus infected patients were related to colleges and universities due to the massive congestion of students on campuses. Likewise, in the UK, the areas where famous universities are located, such as Manchester and Birmingham, are already as hot-spots for the coronavirus. The universities did not make any attempts to identify virus-carrying students, to prevent other healthy students. In that case, all the universities are subjected to increased risks of spreading the virus as infection rates are higher among the younger ones. The universities should start universal testing to identify infected students and put them into a quarantine environment to avoid further spread.

However, the University and Colleges Union wants students to stay away from campuses this autumn because the risks or spread are not diminished yet. It does not make any sense to assemble in a specific place while there are hazards of the pandemic. The young blood is always very much excited and think that they are invulnerable to infection, but they are more tended to get infections of coronavirus in reality. If some of them got infections, they would transfer these infections to the whole community, starting from their homes. It will surely lead us to the public health crisis collectively. The government should review its decision and announce to reopen universities after Christmas, along with a proper system of medical testing service.

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