There were more than 50 cases of coronavirus confirmed at Oxford University last week by its own testing service.

In an update today on its Covid-19 status and response website, the University said between October 3 an 9, there were 709 tests carried out by the University.

Of these, 61 came back positive. 

The results do not say how many were students or staff.

It was the week the majority of the University's students returned to the city, with Fresher's Week ahead of the start of the Michaelmas semester yesterday.

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Since the the University started testing on August 20, there have been 1,631 tests and 91 Covid cases.

The University has two testing sites in Oxfrord - a central testing site is in the city centre, located in the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter, with a second one at the Old Road Campus in Headington.

The Oxford University website says the figures do not include positive test results received outside of the University's own testing service.

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It added: "Due to the time interval between a test being done and the result becoming available, it is expected that there will be a mismatch between actual results and those confirmed to us on any given day."

It follows Oxford Brookes University, which has been back since September, last week confirming 100 students and staff had tested positive in the week leading up to October 2.

Oxford University has a four-stage emergency response to the pandemic, depending on how wide the spread of coronavirus is.

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The University is currently at stage two, which states: "University operates in line with social distancing restrictions with as full a student cohort as possible on site; teaching and assessment taking place with the optimum combination of in-person teaching and online learning; and the minimum possible reduction in research capacity.

"Some areas of the University open to public in line with social distancing restrictions."