The Scottish Government has come under fire for rejecting pleas to introduce coronavirus testing for international students.
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie had called for students coming to St Andrews and other universities to be tested on arrival and again after five days to ensure they were Covid-19 free.
The North East Fife MSP said the SNP had failed to listen and accused ministers of being underhand by slipping the decision through amid the Programme for Government announcement.
Mr Rennie said: “Rejecting the constructive suggestion on Tuesday in the noise of the Programme for Government was especially underhand and lacked the kind of open government we deserve to have.”
The Scottish Government said testing would not guarantee a person would not go on to become infectious and reiterated that anyone arriving from abroad should quarantine for 14 days.
More than 41% of St Andrews University students are from overseas and the institution has unveiled a rapid response team to deal with any suspected infection.
Dundee University welcomes students from 145 countries, Abertay University also has a significant cohort of international learners.
Mr Rennie said it would be the biggest movement of people since lockdown at a time when the pandemic was still a real threat.
He was backed by St Andrews Student Association president Dan Marshall, who said testing people whether or not they were showing Covid-19 symptoms would keep people safe.
“We want to return to university life and to teaching but this must be done safely,” he said.
“This kind of testing would help us do this but alone it’s not enough – we all have a responsibility to be mindful of the Scottish Government guidance around staying safe no matter where in the world we come from.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “While testing has an important part to play in our response to Covid-19, it cannot always provide reassurance that a person will not go on to become infectious.
“Covid-19 has a 14 day incubation period – if a person tests negative before the end of the incubation period, they could still go on to develop the disease and infect others.
“That is why anyone, including university staff and students, arriving in Scotland from overseas must self-isolate for 14 days unless they have travelled from a country on the quarantine exemption list.”
