On 15th June, SUSU announced via social media that they would be cancelling Thursday’s karaoke nights and the Stags. The move was in response to what SUSU referred to as ‘a small group of students’ not adhering to University and government guidelines aimed at preventing transmission of Covid-19.
SUSU did not specify when the weekly event would restart. The announcement said only that karaoke would not be returning ‘until further notice’, and that the ‘Karaoke XL’ event, part of the Lost Events week (21st-28th June), would also be cancelled.
Of the decision, the Union said this:
We know how hard this year has been for students, including not being able to socialise and meet people. As soon as we were allowed to do so we started putting on events, including the ever-popular Karaoke in The Stag’s. Our main concern is always student safety, though, and so we continually review all events
The Highfield and University area of Southampton, as of the 14th June, was ranked 4th for rate of coronavirus cases out of all of Southeast England’s student areas, per data compiled by Wonkhe, a higher education policy think-tank. According to the government’s covid dashboard, the areas adjacent to Highfield Campus are far above the national average for covid cases per 100,000 residents.