the university "strongly condemns the blatant breaches"
Up to 200 students have been filmed breaching social distancing measures at a party at Coventry University.
They were filmed climbing on top of ping pong tables and singing along to music at the late-night party.
It was reported that at least 200 students are thought to have crammed into a common room at Arundel House, close to Coventry University’s main campus, for a rave in the early hours of September 29, 2020.
The footage comes despite a rise in Covid-19 cases in campuses across the UK, with thousands of students locked down.
Some partygoers could be heard screaming, while a group of male students stood atop a ping pong table as they sang along to blaring music.
Police said officers attended the accommodation. They have now worked with the management of Arundel House to close some communal areas and increase security.
There have been five confirmed cases of Covid-19 at Coventry University.
Around 200 students were caught on camera flouting coronavirus rules at a party at university halls in Coventry.
Read more here: https://t.co/lqEKLUeEGI pic.twitter.com/FXNZor2XQ7
— ITV News (@itvnews) September 30, 2020
A spokesperson for the university said they were “deeply concerned” by the scenes.
The statement said that the university “strongly condemns the blatant breaches of the rule of six and other guidelines as they risk the health of our students, colleagues and the communities in which we are located”.
Current government guidelines state that only groups of six people or fewer are allowed to meet.
Students have been told they must limit socialising, staying within separate “households” and being taught in managed groups.
The university’s Provost, Ian Dunn, called the footage “outrageous and deeply unfair”.
He told the BBC that the university was taking the incident “very seriously” and he was confident its code of conduct had been breached.
Mr Dunn said that while Coventry University students live at the newly-opened Arundel House, it “does not have a direct relationship” with the privately-owned hall of residence.
He went on to say that “the vast majority of our students are behaving so responsibly” on campus.
A spokesperson said that the university’s code of conduct had been shared with students.
“We have introduced a code of conduct for students and shared this widely with them ahead of the weekend.”
“This code of conduct makes it clear that a failure to follow university and government health, safety and wellbeing requirements will constitute a breach of the university’s disciplinary regulations and may be dealt with as a matter of misconduct.
“If any of those involved in the video are found to be students of Coventry University and in breach of the code of conduct, we will take appropriate action.”
A police investigation is underway to determine if the party had been planned.
A spokesperson added: “We do not want the actions of a few to affect the experience of many.”
This comes as approximately 4,000 students across Britain are self-isolating after more than 500 cases of Covid-19 were confirmed across at least 32 universities.
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