St Andrews University student president backs calls for international students to be tested for Covid-19

Dan Marshall, president of the Students’ Association, has backed the calls of MSP Willie Rennie, who has pressed the Scottish Government to test international students on the day they arrive in Scotland, and on their fifth day, whether they are showing symptoms of Covid-19 or not.

The call follows the advice of Devi Sridhar, advisor to the First Minister, that testing students on the day of arrival and on their fifth day would keep students and the local community safer. Mr Rennie has taken this call to the First Minister in First Minister’s Questions and is pressing the government to keep students safe.

Mr Marshall said: “The Students’ Association is behind this call for testing of even those who aren’t displaying symptoms because we know this virus can travel undetected through the population at an alarming rate. We want to return to university life and to teaching but this must be done safely. This kind of testing would help us to do this but alone it is not enough, we all have a responsibility to be mindful of the Scottish Government guidance around staying safe no matter where in the world we come from.”

Mr Rennie said: “It is now for the Scottish Government to heed this advice from their scientific advisor and the calls of community leads like Dan and to introduce testing. If the government is not prepared to do so, it must explain why.”

MP Wendy Chamberlain added: “The Scottish Government has been advised and warned, and now it must listen to these calls to keep students safe.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “While testing has an important part to play in our response to Covid-19, it cannot always provide reassurance that a person will not go on to become infectious. Anyone arriving in Scotland from overseas must self-isolate for 14 days unless they have travelled from a country on the quarantine exemption list.”