At least 45 universities in the UK now have confirmed cases of COVID-19, and another two have suspected cases.

More than 865 coronavirus cases have been identified among students and staff since universities reopened, according to data collected by Sky News up to 29 September.

The total number of people self-isolating has risen above 3,540.

Manchester Metropolitan University has asked around 1,700 students to self-isolate after 127 cases were confirmed.

The University of Glasgow, the worst affected, has 172 confirmed cases, with 600 students self-isolating.

It has agreed to refund students one month of rent and provide a £50 payment for food. Food parcels to those in isolation will also be increased, along with the provision of cleaning materials, bedding and towels.

NHS Lothian confirmed that 120 students have tested positive at Edinburgh Napier University, with another five or more at Queen Margaret University and the University of Edinburgh combined.

Another COVID-19 outbreak at Parker House in Dundee led to the quarantine of its 500 student residents from Abertay University and Dundee University.

At least 68 of those students have tested positive so far in both universities, with another 16 at Abertay University’s Meadowside Halls accommodation.

At the University of Liverpool, the tally of COVID-19 cases has risen from 87 to 108, according to the University and College Union (UCU).

Newcastle University and Northumbria University confirmed a least 62 coronavirus cases combined.

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Some universities have been told not to release the number of cases by public health officials.

A spokesperson for the University of Nottingham told Sky News: “Regional Public Health England is currently asking us not to release institutional data for a couple of reasons – they are keen not to confuse their formal weekly data releases but they are also mindful of undermining the message that in the East Midlands, COVID-19 is affecting all demographics and so all demographics should have responsibility to protect health and follow the rules.

“We are continuing to press the argument to PHE that we should be able to release data.”

In most of the affected universities, the proportion of students testing positive is a small part of the overall population.

Some universities have started to move courses online in response to a growing number of cases on campuses – first seen in Scotland, then in the rest of the country as more universities reopened.

The UCU has urged all universities to adopt remote learning, calling on the government to issue clear guidelines that force them to do so.

UCU’s Scotland official Mary Senior told Sky News that staff at some universities have been pressured to offer a “substantial amount” of teaching hours in person.

“This is a real mess,” she said.

James Yucel, a student at the University of Glasgow, implored the UK government not to move courses online after students have already moved to be near campuses.

He has spent thousands on living expenses since he moved to Glasgow, expecting his course to be partly based on campus.

He and other students are campaigning for a 15% reduction in their tuition fees amid a “mass exodus” of students leaving.

He told Sky News: “I wish I was told before I put a £1,500 deposit with my flatmates on a property, before we spent three months living there, before we spent most of our student loans on living fees – it seems like an incredible display of incompetence.”

The National Union of Students said the government was “gambling with students’ lives” when it encouraged them to return to university campuses, where the virus can spread quickly in student halls.

The 45 universities with confirmed cases are:

• Abertay University
• Aberystwyth University
• Aston University, Birmingham
• Bath Spa University
• Birmingham City University
• Coventry University
• De Montford University, Leicester
• Durham University
• Edinburgh Napier University
• Glasgow Caledonian University
• Leeds Beckett University
• Manchester Metropolitan University
• Newcastle University
• Northumbria University
• Oxford Brookes University
• Queen Margaret University, East Lothian
• Queen’s University Belfast
• Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen
• Staffordshire University
• Swansea University
• University of Aberdeen
• University of Bath
• University of Chester
• University of Dundee
• University of Edinburgh
• University of Exeter
• University of Glasgow
• University of Gloucestershire
• University of Hull
• University of Kent
• University of Leeds
• University of Leicester
• University of Liverpool
• University of Nottingham
• University of Portsmouth
• University of Reading
• University of Salford
• University of South Wales
• University of Stirling
• University of Sunderland
• University of Warwick
• University of the West of England, Bristol
• University of Worcester
• University of St Andrews, Fife
• York St John University

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