Vice-Chancellor Stephen Toope has expressed concern over rising  Covid-19 cases in Cambridge, in an email sent out to all students and staff.

Over the last week, six new covid cases have been detected, most of which were detected through the asymptomatic testing programme. 

Stephen Toope warned that the new ‘delta’ virus variant has been associated with coronavirus outbreaks in other universities. He stressed that student participation in the testing programme is essential to avoid such outbreaks.

In his communication, Toope wrote: “I urge all students to continue participating in the Asymptomatic Covid-19 Screening Programme, or to sign-up if they have not already done so. By finding cases early, we can avoid outbreaks, and further disruption to University life as the academic year draws to a close.”

The rates of participation in the programme from the 7th to the 13th of June were low, with only 44% of students registered with the programme contributing a swab. This contrasts with the high percentage of students registered to the programme (89%).

After five weeks of detecting no cases, week seven was the first week the programme detected positive cases, with two individuals testing positive for Covid-19. 

The highest number of cases detected by the programme was in the second week of November, with eighty students testing positive.