OUTBREAKS of coronavirus at universities need to be controlled, MP Matt Western has told the prime minister.
Speaking in the House of Commons, the Warwick and Leamington MP hit out at the lack of local testing facilities for students.
He asked Boris Johnson about controlling outbreaks at universities and said there is no local testing facility in Leamington for students at the University of Warwick.
It comes as it was revealed a testing facility will not be set up in the town until the end of October – weeks after thousands of students moved back to the area.
The prime minister said: “Clearly, there are particular problems in some parts of the country and we will be pursuing the measures that we have outlined.”
Mr Western told the Observer: “Across the country, we’ve seen huge outbreaks of covid in universities, putting all members of our communities at great risk.
“Testing, tracing and isolating is key in ensuring that we can control the virus, especially as students move into the local community.
“The return of the student community should not have been a surprise but clearly it was to government. We all knew that students would arrive from September onwards but government still failed to prepare, putting the community at risk.
“This is yet another example of the government failing to implement its far-from-world-beating test and trace system.
“They must urgently get a grip of the situation before they totally lose control and put tens of thousands of lives at danger.”
