I mentioned last night that there had been a spike in cases in Exeter, with 15 recorded yesterday, 11 from Sep 20. It can now be confirmed that these cases are mainly linked to students at the University of Exeter who had already contracted coronavirus before arriving
It is understood that the majority of them were asymptomatic and the positive cases were identified via the saliva testing that the Uni are doing for staff and students. All positive cases and households now self-isolating, and no evidence yet of onward community spread
A University of Exeter spokesman said: “We have had a small number of positive Covid-19 cases over the past few days. The health and welfare of all students and staff is our overriding priority, and our Rapid Response Hub is co-ordinating testing and working with PHE....
and the national track and trace programme to share details of any positive cases, as well as target those who need to self-isolate or be tested and trace their close contacts.
“We are working with local health teams on any actions required and continue to communicate directly with students on the necessity to follow Covid-19 rules fully."
A spokesman for Public Health Devon said: “All positive cases and their households are self-isolating. There is no evidence of wider community transmission at this stage and we are monitoring the data very closely so that we can respond immediately to changes in the data."
This does confirm that Uni students will be included in the Exeter stats, and with all cases having the Uni's postcode, data for Pennsylvania and University in the MSOA maps may be skewed. Also appears that had the virus before arriving, rather than catching the virus in Exeter
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