Half of students in some halls infected with Covid last year

Highest antibody levels among students in halls, with one in five of all students infected

A Public Health England survey has found that half of students living in university halls of residence with large outbreaks of Covid-19 had been exposed to the disease by December last year.

The Covid-19 seroprevalence study, which was carried out at five universities in England between 2 and 11 December 2020 that had reported outbreaks, revealed that 49 per cent of students who lived in halls in the autumn term, where infection rates were greater than 8 per cent, tested positive for antibodies.