COVID-19 Updates

Update on coronavirus (COVID-19): Information for residents

The safety and wellbeing of our resident community is of the highest importance to us, and helping our students and staff protect themselves and others is our top priority during this difficult and uncertain time.

From the earliest moments of the pandemic, we have been closely monitoring the rapidly evolving situation and follow the guidance of the Government, NHS and relevant local authorities.

Latest Government Guidance

The UK and devolved governments update their advice regularly, which all students and staff at Canto Court must follow to reduce the risk of catching or spreading the virus.

We will continue to provide you with the latest guidance from the UK government as it becomes available. To stay informed of developments, we also recommend that you closely follow your university’s guidance and use the UK government website – https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus

What you need to do if you live in England:

The UK government has published the following resource with guidance for England and what this means for you here.

Anyone who has symptoms, however mild, or is in a household where someone has symptoms should continue to follow self-isolation guidance. If you are in the group classed as ‘clinically vulnerable’ or ‘clinically extremely vulnerable’ please read further guidance here.

Collecting your belongings

The UK government is allowing students who left their student accommodation in England and now wish to travel back to recover their belongings to do so, as long as they follow the precautions set out in staying safe outside your home.

Our Canto Court team have been trying to contact all students with belongings still in their rooms and it is important that arrangements for collection are made as soon as possible.

To collect your belongings, you must have pre-booked a collection slot with the team in your building. Please do so by getting in touch with them on info@cantocourt.com. Please do not come to site unless you have made these arrangements or we will not be able to help you.

If you are still unable to collect your possessions, either because you are self-isolating or are otherwise unable to travel, we will continue to store your items for collection at a future date, provided you let us know as soon as possible. However, please be aware we may need to charge an extenstion rent to do this, depending on the availability of the rooms.

Please do get in contact with your site team if this is the case, so we are aware of your situation.

Protect yourself and others

Please read the Government’s advice for how to protect yourself and others from the spread of COVID-19, and remember the importance of good hand washing and respiratory hygiene, as well as social distancing.

What to do if you feel unwell (guidance on self-isolation)

The Government advises that you should self-isolate in your room or studio apartment if you have any of the coronavirus symptoms.

Please note that you must now self-isolate for ten days if you are experiencing symptoms or have tested positive for the virus, as per the latest government guidance. Please click the following links for NHS guidance on self-isolation,  its advice on COVID-19, and information on student accommodation.

If you cannot cope with your symptoms during self-isolation, if they get worse or are no better after 10 days you should use the NHS 111 online coronavirus service or call NHS 111.

If a case is confirmed through testing, we will act quickly and decisively on the instructions given by the relevant authorities. We will also work with our university partners to ensure a coordinated response, and to ensure that students receive the right advice and support.

We will also arrange for a professional deep clean of the affected resident’s room, common flat spaces and any common areas the affected resident may have used, as advised by the relevant local authorities.

Keeping in touch with family and friends, and where to access help

If you are self-isolating in your room, please let friends, family and your university know.

It is important to take care of mental, as well as physical health, and seek support if you need it.  Staying at home for a prolonged period can be difficult, frustrating and lonely for some people. Beyond keeping in touch with family and friends over the phone and on social media there are sources of support and information that can help, such as Every Mind Matters.

If you are tested for COVID-19 at any point and have the virus, you must let your site team know via phone or email, as well as letting your university know.

Post collection and food delivery

Please be considerate during this time about the amount you are ordering online, and limit deliveries to essential items. To keep everyone safe and adhere to social distancing, we are doing our best to limit avoidable interactions including with delivery drivers.

If you have any coronavirus symptoms, you should self-isolate and not visit reception. Please send a friend or flatmate who is not self-isolating to reception to collect any delivery for you or, alternatively, let the site team know by phone or email, and they will leave it outside your flat door.

Guests

Where Government guidance permits it, we will allow residents to have guests. All guests will be asked to sign in, prior to being allowed into the property.

For the safety and protection of other residents and staff, we ask that residents and their guests remain in their studio, and do not use common spaces around the property.

If you are self-isolating and you have arranged for a friend or family member to bring you essential food supplies or medicines, they can bring this up to you or leave it at reception and a member of staff will put this outside your door for collection.

Room and flat maintenance

We will continue to carry out essential maintenance, room cleaning and works as required. In these instances, social distancing will be strictly adhered to.

Fire alarms

In the event of a fire alarm, please evacuate the building as you would normally, but where possible, keep at least two metres (about three steps) away from other people.

We ask all residents to be vigilant in terms of preventing fires and in particular false alarms at a period when emergency services responses may be stretched due to sickness. We all have a role to play, so please:

• Call 999 in the event of a fire being discovered. As ever, please do not rely on others including staff calling the Fire and Rescue Service.
• Do not leave fire doors propped open.
• Don’t smoke inside the building, including vaping.
• Don’t tamper with smoke detectors or other fire safety equipment.
• Keep your shower room door closed while taking a shower.
• Remember that candles are not permitted.
• Don’t leave cooking unattended, even for a few moments.
• Don’t cook using deep fat frying – shallow fry if you need to.
• Make sure the cooker is off when you have finished using it.
• Don’t use metal containers or leave cutlery in the microwave when in use.
• Keep away from the smoke detector when using aerosols.
• Make sure you are always able to hear or respond to a fire alarm.

Carefully consider your own travel plans

Please read this guidance carefully before making any travel plans.

If you do travel in to the UK and are self-isolating in your flat or studio apartment, you must not go out to buy food or other essentials.

Please arrange for a friend or family member to bring you food supplies or medicines, and they can bring this to your door, or leave it at reception and a member of staff will put this outside your door for collection. Once self-isolation is complete you should follow the current government guidelines on social distancing measures.