Saint Andrews (United Kingdom) (AFP)

"It's the safest way to come back": students at the Scottish University of Saint Andrews are the first in the British province on Saturday to benefit from a massive screening for Covid-19, in order to return home for Christmas with a light heart.

"I'm going to get tested before I go home, then quarantine myself there," Lilly Wallace, a 21-year-old neuroscience student on the eve of the start of the operation, told AFP.

Like all her comrades, even the asymptomatic, Lilly will be able to benefit from a free self-test, consisting of samples from the nose and from the mouth, which she will carry out under the supervision of third-year medical students.

And if this test is not compulsory, the young woman did not hesitate for a second: "It is the safest way to come back and travel".

In the United Kingdom, the most bereaved country in Europe by the pandemic with 57,500 dead, each local government has its own policy on the pandemic, but the four nations have agreed to allow students to return to see their families at Christmas .

This massive transhumance which is preparing has raised fears of a worsening of the new coronavirus pandemic on the occasion of the holidays, especially as several British universities have been major centers of transmission in recent months.

Students from England "will be allowed to return on staggered departure dates set by universities" to reduce "pressure on transport infrastructure," the British government said in mid-November.

In Scotland, nearly 80,000 students are expected to return home at the end of the term, University Minister Richard Lochhead estimated.

The end dates of the courses have therefore been shifted to prevent everyone from entering at the same time, and each student is offered to take two tests, three or five days apart, to determine if he is carrying the virus.

- "Peace of mind" -

To carry out this massive testing campaign, the British government made a million kits available to Scottish universities.

The University of St Andrews estimates it has the capacity to complete 1,500 tests every day, until December 18, when 80% of students plan to go home for Christmas, according to a survey by the Students' Association.

19-year-old Fiona Waddell looks forward to “the peace of mind of being with my family, of knowing that everything is fine and that we can be together this Christmas”.

"I don't want it to be compromised by anything, so I'll take a test!"

says the student in psychology.

Once this is done, "we receive the results within 24 hours," explains Sophie Tyler, president of the Sports Association.

"If the students get two negative tests, then they can be pretty sure they are really negative and go home safe."

In the event of a positive result, however, the pupils will be asked to isolate themselves and not to go home.

However, this does not discourage the volunteers: Rebecca Clunie, 22, hopes to be able to "book a niche as soon as possible".

"Like that, even if the test is positive," she explains, "I would still have time to isolate myself before I go home!"

© 2020 AFP