Students who caught Covid launch awareness campaign on how easily virus can spread

A group of masters students from NUI Galway who caught Covid back in September have created a new awareness campaign to highlight how easily the virus can spread. 

A group of masters students from NUI Galway who caught Covid-19 in September have created a new awareness campaign to highlight how easily the virus can spread. 

Seventeen out of the 27 students in the Masters in Marketing class tested positive for Covid-19.

They now want to raise awareness of how easily it can be transmitted ahead of the increased socialising around the holiday period.

The class will host an Instagram Live session today at 4pm on the @nuigalway account, as part of their campaign. 

Gareth Davey, a member of the class, was one of the 17 students who tested positive.

"In September, we were allowed to come back to campus two weeks before anyone else, because a lot of our masters is placement. I was never so excited to have a 9am lecture," he told the Irish Examiner.

Mr Davey said NUI Galway had all safety protocols in place, and fewer than 30 of them were sitting, spaced out in lecture halls with a capacity of 200 people. The weather was also good so they ate lunch outdoors.

"The next week or so, one of our classmates just wasn't in. We were told he was a close contact of a confirmed Covid case so was isolating. 

One of his friends called over to his house for just 20 minutes. His friend was actually a close contact of a confirmed case but didn't know. So our classmate got tested and he was positive."

The class moved to online learning straight away and everyone got tested – 17 out of 27 people were positive, despite taking precautions. 

"It was a whirlwind couple of days, just to hear the bad news."

The students began their 14-day self-isolation period. Some were living in their family homes, others were living in college houses in Galway city.

Mr Davey tested positive but was asymptomatic throughout. 

"I was in my college house with friends. We all isolated. Then they all got tested as well, none of them came back positive."

He was grateful that the class bonded and could still communicate virtually to support each other. 

"The isolation was peculiar. I was stuck in the house, just those four walls."

The class also had to deal with online backlash as news of the cases broke. 

There were a lot of keyboard warriors. Rumours went around, it really affected the class."

People accused the students of not following the public health advice and going to parties, and it was also around the time of the Spanish Arch incident, where hundreds of students gathered to drink outdoors.

Gareth Davey, one of the 17 NUI Galway Masters in Marketing students who caught Covid-19.

"If people had of seen our timetable . . . the notion that we were out partying every night was just laughable."

Mr Davey hasn't been home to Sligo since August.

I am taking this seriously, everyone in our class is, people were just pointing fingers and assuming things, which really hurt the class."

However, the class wanted to create something positive out of the experience. They decided to create an online campaign in their spare time to promote public health messages.

"Coming up to Christmas, there's a last push, not just for youths but for everyone in Ireland to think about their actions," Mr Davey said.

There will also be more messages promoting public health advice going up on the NUI Galway Students' Union Instagram account over the Christmas period.