In an email sent to students today (29/11), University officials communicated that students “must immediately extend the use of face coverings.” 

Senior Pro-Vice-Chancellor Graham Virgo and Pro-Vice-Chancellor Kamal Munir stated that they expect face coverings to be worn by staff, students and visitors “in all indoor shared spaces (including labs, libraries, classrooms and shared offices) and when moving through corridors and across communal rooms.”  

This comes as the 11 cases of the Omicron variant of Covid-19, which the WHO have said poses a “very high” global risk, have been confirmed in the United Kingdom. None of these cases were discovered in the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough area, which recorded 3,072 cases of Covid-19 in the last 7-day recording period (14–20 November).

Virgo and Munir went on to specify that face coverings are not required for those exempt from wearing them, and that students should “follow specific guidance from your college for accommodation and college spaces.” 

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough have been classed as an Enhanced Response Area, which aims to prevent unsustainable pressure on NHS hospitals, since 1st November.