COVID test kits pictured ‘spilling out’ of postbox near student accommodation as university cases soar

A student has described how coronavirus test kits were “spilling out” of a postbox when she went to drop off a kit for her sick flatmate.

Amy Collins, 21, who studies physiotherapy at Nottingham University, shared a picture on Facebook of a postbox near her accommodation in Ilkeston Road.

“Yes completely, they were spilling out the front,” the third-year student from Kent told Yahoo News UK.

Collins, who has since tested positive for the virus herself, said she was sending a kit for her symptomatic housemate on Monday when she saw the packed postbox, which “unnerved” her.

Royal Mail confirmed it was increasing collections at the location after receiving "larger-than-usual volumes".

It comes as health officials expect Nottingham to be placed in lockdown after a surge in coronavirus cases.

Watch: Nottingham authorities push for stricter coronavirus measures

The city’s infection rate has soared, with 1,465 new cases recorded in the seven days to 3 October – the equivalent of 440.1 cases per 100,000 people.

This is up from 237 new cases in the seven days to 26 September, or 71.2 per 100,000 people.

Nottingham’s director of public health Alison Challenger said icurrent restrictions in the city “are no longer enough to stop the spread of the virus”.

An outbreak at Nottingham University has seen 425 students test positive for the virus during the week ending last Friday, figures on its website showed.

The number includes 226 students in private accommodation and 106 in halls of residence.

Eight members of staff were also classed as “active confirmed cases” over the same time.

Collins, who is self-isolating in her accommodation for 10 days, said her course had been “pretty good on checking in on us now and again” but said generally the university hasn’t really said anything about COVID-19.

A spokeswoman for Nottingham University, which has around 35,000 students, said: “Alongside the national Pillar 2 testing regime for people with symptoms of COVID-19, the university has also commenced its own asymptomatic testing programme which will identify cases earlier and more quickly.

“While this will mean that our case data will be higher than other universities, we can identify cases that otherwise would remain undetected and thereby reduce asymptomatic transmission and the number of future cases.”

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