NUI Galway to use CCTV to identify students without face masks

From this week’s Galway City Tribune – Management at NUI Galway have said they will use CCTV to track down students who refuse to wear face masks and can take disciplinary action against them.

Staff at the university were told this week to approach students who do not wear masks and if they refuse to wear one, CCTV will be used to “pick up on the individuals”.

NUIG’s Chief Operating Officer, John Gill, said the college’s adherence to Covid-19 guidelines has been largely excellent.

“However, in recent weeks, we’ve had some reports of isolated incidents of non-compliance, particularly in public areas like corridors etc, and particularly relating to the wearing of face masks. We want to encourage everyone, staff and students, to return to full compliance.

“Our experience has been that if people are challenged, if somebody asks them to replace their face covering, they do so. If you find that you get a response that is now what you’d expect or people don’t return to wearing the face covering, please report it.

“If we have CCTV coverage, then we can pick up on the individuals and approach them directly, or if you know the identity of the individual, let us know and we can act on that,” said Mr Gill.

He asked staff to provide the time, date and place so authorities could identify them through CCTV footage.

This is a shortened preview version of this article. To read the rest of the story, see this week’s Galway City Tribune. You can buy a digital edition HERE.