Sheffield students start to head home as travel window opens
Thousands are being tested for Covid before they set off
Thousands of university students in Sheffield are starting to make their way home for Christmas as the government's travel window opens.
Today marks the start of the seven day period they're told they can return safely to their families for the festive period if they've had a negative Covid test.
Both Sheffield universities have been running Covid-19 testing all week at big sites in the city.
Rory McKee studies at Sheffield University and will be flying home to Northern Ireland for Chirstmas:
"Of course it's a massive relief to know that you'll be able to spend that time with your family. Christmas is the one time of the year where family comes into its own and things have been so up in the air lately that it's taught me to not take anything for granted.
"I'm booked in for a test on Sunday myself and it's not the first of these that I've had so you could say I'm pretty accustomed to the process by now. In terms of mass testing, it can only be a good thing but it does beg the question at the same time of why it's taken up to now for that to be introduced."
Sheffield University's Octagon Centre and Sheffield Hallam's Owen Building have both been used for the lateral flow coronavirus tests since Monday.
Joe Rennie's been organising the testing at Sheffield Hallam and says it's really important part of getting students home:
"We certainly want to do our bit in making students return to their home addresses as safely as we can. I think the key messages of social distancing, of hand washing, remain important. The test is accurate the day it's taken, it's not a guarantee forever.
"The student travel window from the government is open on 3rd December through to 9th. That's why our testing is aligned with that so students, as long as they have a negative test, can return home still obeying those other rules around social distancing, hand washing and so on.
"It's not a guarantee but it does give them an indication that they are safe to travel. Or if they get a positive test they would need to self-isolate for ten days at their Sheffield term-time address and they would be supported through that period."