OXFORD Brookes has announced it had nearly 60 new cases of Covid-19 last week, but no ‘locked down’ halls of residence.

In the seven days up to October 23, the university had 58 confirmed cases of the coronavirus.

Brookes said that 54 of those cases were students, with the other four being members of staff.

Of those 58 people, the university said 52 lived in Oxford, three in other districts in Oxfordshire and two in areas outside of Oxfordshire.

One case has now been confirmed in Swindon.

Last Wednesday, Brookes announced it had recorded 68 positive Covid-19 results in the previous week leading up to October 16.

One was a staff member, and the remaining 67 were students.

Read also: Oxford Brookes students in ‘big groups’ ignoring Covid laws

The local Covid alert level for both Oxford and Swindon is currently ‘medium’.

This means that national restrictions continue to be in place in these areas, including wearing face coverings in certain places, not socialising in groups of more than six, and businesses and venues continuing to operate in a Covid-safe way.

Oxford Brookes’ campuses and halls of residence are open, however, access to the site is restricted to students and staff at the university with special visitors only allowed to visit with special permission.

Oxford Brookes said: “We are continuing to carefully manage the situation in partnership with Public Health England (PHE), which is providing expert guidance on health and infection control measures.

“Small group, face-to-face teaching is continuing as planned. A small number of modules have switched to online as a precaution.

“We continue to support students who are isolating in both halls of residence and private rented accommodation.”