Oxford and Cambridge current students - discussion thread for anyone with daughters, sons etc there for Michaelmas 2020 (and not just freshers!)

[DadDadDad]

A continuation thread for those attending Oxbridge for the first time this term, but it makes sense to throw it open to anyone with a DC there (or other family member, or maybe you're a student yourself or teach / work there - all welcome!) Share your thoughts and questions on college life, courses, etc. A certain virus has made it a bit different for everyone this year...

I have a DS who is a fresher at a small Oxford college in a small subject. We will be taking him there in just over a week.

Sorry, ignore. Posted on wrong platform

@DadDadDad

Government minister saying 9000 students nationally currently have Covid-19.

I see Oxford Uni had 61 positive tests last week: www.ox.ac.uk/coronavirus/status. I can't find a similar disclosure from Cambridge.

The Cambridge term only started on Thursday, I don't know when they started testing in colleges.

My ds at C was tested a week ago as part of their household testing plans.

Cambridge tested 3500 students in the first week and 11 tested positive.

DS's household gets done on Tuesdays. This week (as last week) there is only capacity for two individuals from each household to contribute a sample to the household testing pot.

Varsity article

@Coleoptera sorry to hear that he is having to self-isolate, especially as he was just starting to get opportunities to meet more people.

Sorry to hear that @Coleoptera. I hope he is well supported by his college in his self-isolation.
(I might nudge DS to tackle some laundry in case.)

I am so sorry @Coleoptera. After he worked so hard and waited so long. But it won't be forever. Can you send him some clothes-handwash liquid and some treats by post to cheer him up?

Oh dear @Coleoptera, poor DT1 is not having it easy. I imagine he's particularly disappointed about the tutorial being online. I do hope he can get this quarantine out of the way in the minimum amount of time and be done with it, but of course the worry is that it keeps repeating. DS has a large bubble, which I thought was good news, but now I'm wondering if larger bubbles will end up isolating for longer.

The following is a bbc article reporting that there are 61 positive tests at Oxford due to fresher's week. That number is only going to go up I expect.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-54506310,

Some of you may be interested to know that DS called me this morning to ask me to collect his new jacket from the tailor and post it to him. It is made from, wait for it, tweed.

Oops, sorry, I just saw that I repeated a link that had already been posted (duh).

Oh @Coleoptera, that's not good. Poor old DT1. DM me if you want someone to drop anything off for him - I'm only round the corner and I do hate to think of a hungry student

Posting with an update re dress code at Cambridge.. everyone wearing college merchandise PROUDLY. DH says it would have been deeply naff in his day. DT1 at a College made essentially of tweed and port but can confirm from weekend birthday trip that Ryder and Amies are doing very well !
Let’s remember that even though Fresher’s have been returning for a couple of weeks, term in fact only started on Thursday 5th..
DT1 has submitted her first essay this morning ready for first supervision this week. It would have been impossible for her to have done this before she went up ; several books she needed only physically available from small subject libraries (and even then it’s apparently proved a bit of a challenge to find them). Pret was full of people bashing out essays this morning apparently; free coffee and open earlier than the college library.
Weekly household testing for DT1 , results back quickly. College continues to be as tolerant as they can within the necessary constraints.
Birthday trip meant she missed first rugby try out ( phew) but there’s another one this weekend ( alas)...

That's interesting hob. In my day it was acceptable to wear a college scarf, but the only people who wore university-branded kit were the tourists!

Is DT2 a choral scholar too Coleoptera?

I really hope he doesn't have to keep extending isolation. He's already now going to miss the vital weeks of 'bonding' with any of the people from the societies he's just joined and the sports he'd signed up for are of course now off. So I guess people will be forming friendship groups and have got to know each other by the time he's allowed out.

Groups don't get set in stone that quickly. They all know what's going on; if any cliques have formed and won't admit people released from quarantine then that's probably a clique well avoided.

@Coleoptera when a household is isolating because of a positive case, the clock does NOT reset for everyone else who is asymptomatic each time someone else is diagnosed.
Please see government guidance here www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-stay-at-home-guidance/stay-at-home-guidance-for-households-with-possible-coronavirus-covid-19-infection#after-the-isolation-period-has-ended
which says
Returning to your normal routine
If you remain well, you can return to your normal routine at the end of the 14-day period. You do not need to isolate for longer than 14 days, even if other household members develop symptoms during this period. However, the person with new symptoms should now self-isolate for 10 days. People in the household who remain well after 14 days are unlikely to be infectious.
or for example diagram from Exeter here
www.exeter.ac.uk/coronavirus/self-isolating/#a6

If college is saying the clock resets, please ask college authorities to check with the university's medical advisors / PHE. Otherwise a household could be in isolation for ever, and the pragmatic rational is that after 14 days people in a household who are going to get it will have had it, and so everyone who has remained asymptomatic is now unlikely to be infectious

@chocolatorange
That's true, but if they finish their household self-isolation, and then a couple of days later one of them develops a high temperature or new continuous cough, then they would have to start another period of self-isolation.

The poor mite @coleoptera. Do they not get food delivered and washing done while they are in isolation. That is really harsh.

@ironoaks yes you're right that is true! I guess I meant they can't keep extending the 1st household isolation though. The risk of repeated cycles of lockdown is why ideally household bubbles are not too big to reduce the probability of everyone going in and out of lockdown, but that has to be balanced against the way accommodation is arranged, kitchens shared etc

dds college have promised food delivery to self isolating students. She packed extra pjs and hand washing detergent in case of SI.

DD is being molly coddled. Washing done for everyone to stop people getting too close in the laundry and if they have to self isolate meals are delivered to the door, along with orders from the JCR. She had better not get used to it.....

Sensible kitten. I'm sure it's possible to wash undies with washing up liquid, soap or shower gel. There's probably lots of YouTubes by locked down students with 'hacks' by now. (If there aren't, then there should be!)

@SnapSnapDragon, I for one am delighted your son's new jacket is tweed. And DS will be too if they ever meet! They can talk tailors.