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Swiss authorities order 2,500 students at the Ecole Hoteliere de Lausanne to quarantine due to coronavirus outbreaks 'linked to off-campus partying'

Swiss authorities have ordered 2,500 students at the Ecole Hoteliere de Lausanne to quarantine themselves due to a coronavirus outbreak allegedly linked to off-campus partying.

All undergraduates at the elite hospitality management school in the region of Vaud, Switzerland, were told to isolate in their rooms, including those based off campus.  

'Significant outbreaks of infection have appeared at several levels of training, making impossible a more targeted closure than that involving 2,500 students,' the Vaud regional office said in a statement. 

'Until September 28, the students must stay home.'

Swiss authorities have ordered 2,500 students at the Ecole Hoteliere de Lausanne to quarantine themselves due to a coronavirus outbreak (staff pictured in face masks on campus setting up social distancing markers following quarantine rules)

Swiss authorities have ordered 2,500 students at the Ecole Hoteliere de Lausanne to quarantine themselves due to a coronavirus outbreak (staff pictured in face masks on campus setting up social distancing markers following quarantine rules)

The statement said an early investigation indicated that 'one or more parties was at the origin of these many outbreaks'. 

Local authorities reiterated a call for party-goers to demonstrate a 'responsible attitude' by wearing masks, practicing social distancing, tracing their contacts and being alert to Covid-19 symptoms.

Ines Blal, the university's executive dean, said administrators had warned students against holding start-of-term parties, even off-campus and outside the school's authority.

She said that a 'disciplinary investigation' was underway. 

But added that the school had already been bracing for 'worst-case scenarios' in recent months by putting courses online and rolling out distance-learning programs. 

University spokesman Sherif Mamdouh said that so far 11 students had tested positive for coronavirus in connection with the outbreak but none required hospitalisation. 

Mamdouh said only 67 of the undergraduates affected by the quarantine live on campus with others living nearby. 

All undergraduates at the elite hospitality management school (pictured) in the region of Vaud, Switzerland, were told to isolate in their rooms, including those based off campus

All undergraduates at the elite hospitality management school in the region of Vaud, Switzerland, were told to isolate in their rooms, including those based off campus

The quarantine runs only until Monday because Swiss authorities factored in a possible 14-day virus incubation period since this month's start-of-term parties (students pictured walking on campus after introduction of quarantine rules)

The quarantine runs only until Monday because Swiss authorities factored in a possible 14-day virus incubation period since this month's start-of-term parties (students pictured walking on campus after introduction of quarantine rules)

The university has a total student body of about 3,500, including those pursuing advanced degrees.

It is consistently regarded as the best hospitality school in the world and trains students whose goals are to obtain managerial careers in the hotel and hospitality industries. 

It currently boasts students from 121 countries as students flock from all over the globe to enrol on its courses. 

Mamdouh said the quarantine runs only until Monday because Swiss authorities factored in a possible 14-day virus incubation period since this month's start-of-term parties.

He could not explain why faculty members or graduate students were not included in the quarantine order but said it was a decision made by the cantonal authorities. 

They were not immediately available for comment. 

Switzerland is not alone in facing a back-to-school virus surge among students. 

The World Health Organization, national health authorities and others have cautioned that young people have been a key driver for the continued spread of the coronavirus in several countries in recent weeks.

Faculty members or graduate students were not included in the quarantine order but said it was a decision made by the cantonal authorities

Faculty members or graduate students were not included in the quarantine order but said it was a decision made by the cantonal authorities 

The University of Glasgow in Scotland said earlier today that over 600 of its students had to self-isolate after 124 reported cases emerged in 'two significant clusters' at separate halls of residence.

The university said it believed the outbreak was largely a result of social activity in mid-September during Freshers' Week - when new students arrive and socialize.

It said none of its infected students had to receive hospital treatment and stressed that anyone who breaks coronavirus restrictions could be kicked out of student housing or suspended.

British Health Secretary Matt Hancock told the BBC that the outbreak was worrying, saying: 'The more young people get it the more they spread it to old people.'

The latest government figures in France also show that 22 per cent of the country's currently active virus clusters emerged at schools and universities. 

The United States has also seen clusters linked to college students. 

Denmark's education minister has urged parents and schools to cancel all social events, including camps and birthday parties.

World Health Organization spokeswoman Margaret Harris said that while it is 'unfair to just put it on the young people,' it's also unsurprising that teenagers and young adults might assume they don't need to worry about succumbing to the virus.

'Perceptions do indicate that they don't feel they are as at-risk as older groups' Harris said, particularly in the wake of data showing younger people typically have less-severe cases of COVID-19.

'The message they have heard is: ''You are out of jail, go out and play,'' she said. 

'We don't want to be the fun police, but we want people to have fun safely.'

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