'This is the first time I've left my room since the meningitis outbreak'

Students at the University of Kent say they have not been leaving their rooms since a fatal outbreak of meningitis began.

The campus is a virtual ghost town - the only people out and about are those in the long queues for precautionary antibiotics.

People are keeping to themselves and wearing face masks in scenes reminiscent of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Kwatng said he had "locked" himself in his accommodation since it was announced on Sunday that two people had died from the illness – including a 21-year-old student at the university.

"This is my first time going out," he told the BBC. "It's really quiet. I haven't been out since Sunday. I've been locked in my room."

It comes as the total number of confirmed or suspected cases of invasive meningitis in the Canterbury area has increased to 20 - up from 15.

The UK Health and Security Agency (UKHSA) said all confirmed cases required hospital admission.

Gabriella Pitch, who studies film and management at the university, said she had "freaked out" when she first heard about the outbreak.

She told the BBC that there was a sense of "trauma" among the students.

"People were not going out on campus, it looked deserted," she said. "People were wearing face masks, and everybody was looking scared."

Students "looked like they had seen a ghost", she added.

Pitch, who said she knew one student in hospital with meningitis, said her exam had been moved online.

The UKHSA has begun vaccinating some 5,000 students against meningitis B at the university's halls.

The first student to get the jab – 22-year-old Oliver Contreras – said he was happy to have received one before he headed to his home in Brighton, East Sussex.

Students have queued on campus for precautionary antibiotics since Monday, BBC reporter Simon Jones said.

"Once again today, there is a strange atmosphere on the university campus. It's a bit like a ghost town," Jones said.

Meanwhile, many other students have left and returned home.

George Meakin told BBC Radio Kent that he was "not overly concerned", though he had taken antibiotics as a precautionary measure.

"I'm not going to alter my social habits as it seems fairly contained," he said.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said earlier that the government was "proactively managing" the situation.

He added people should not be concerned about the illness spreading geographically.

The UK would see 350 cases of meningitis in a normal year, according to Streeting.

An 18-year-old sixth form pupil died from the illness on Saturday, with her father telling the BBC that the family were "beyond devastated".

Susan Hopkins, chief executive of the UKHSA, said there was an "explosive nature" to the current outbreak.

She said it looked as though there had been a super spreader event, though she could not yet confirm where the initial infection originated.

The outbreak is thought to have occurred at a Canterbury nightclub, Club Chemistry.

Anyone who attended the club on 5, 6 and 7 March has been urged by the UKHSA to come forward and take antibiotics as a precautionary measure.

The meningitis incubation period is up to 14 days, so officials believe there could be more cases to come, according to the BBC's health correspondent Nick Triggle.

Five schools in the Kent area have so far confirmed or suspected cases of meningitis.

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