Higher Education minister, Richard Lochhead, releases safety guidelines for students travelling home for Christmas.
In a statement at Holyrood, Higher Education minister Richard Lochhead has stated that the Scottish government seeks to support students to return home safely over the winter break.
Measures that the Scottish government is enforcing comes in five steps.
Firstly, they will be providing early and clear advice on how to return safely to help student welfare.
Secondly, there will be a staggering departure from universities. The Scottish government will attempt to work with universities to adjust class and exam dates to ensure that students can leave in this manner.
Thirdly, they have reiterated the two week period that people should isolate to allow them to meet with others, to encourage students to also isolate for this period prior to returning home.
Fourthly, students will be offered tests before going home, having to voluntarily go to get them. These are tests that can provide results in 30 minutes, with people taking two tests five days apart. This would now include asymptomatic testing, advancing those who can be tested. The government discussed that this would be around 160,000 students taking tests if all that are expected to get tested. This has been recommended for all students who want to go home for Christmas.
Finally, the last measure will be around safe travel around Scotland and the UK. The government seeks to work with transport institutions to ensure no overload as there is an expectation that a large number of people will travel.
The minister finished by thanking students for their care so far and urging them to keep safe.
