Two deaths as Canterbury confronts meningitis outbreak
Viral outbreak reshapes life in the city, plus Cliftonville by-election latest, and the week’s other Kent stories.
We lead today with the meningitis outbreak in Canterbury, where two young people have died, and others remain seriously ill in hospital as public health teams work to trace contacts and contain the spread. We also cover the latest from the Cliftonville by-election, council meetings across Kent, planning and housing pressures, water infrastructure concerns, and the usual mix of politics, local disputes and community stories shaping the county.
Two deaths as Canterbury confronts meningitis outbreak
Canterbury is dealing with a meningitis outbreak that has killed two young people, left others in hospital and forced a sudden public health response across the city.
The UK Health Security Agency says it was made aware of 13 cases of invasive meningococcal disease in the Canterbury area between 13 and 15 March. Two people are known to have died: a University of Kent student and a Year 13 pupil at Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School in Faversham. 11 others have been reported to be seriously ill in hospital.
By this morning, the outbreak had already reshaped life on and around the University of Kent campus. Students were queuing for precautionary antibiotics, in-person assessments have been pulled for the week, events are being cancelled, and social media is filling up with posts from students talking about packing up and going home.
The first clear public signal came in a letter sent on 15 March by the South East Health Protection Team to University of Kent students and staff. It said a number of students had been admitted to hospital with meningitis or sepsis likely caused by meningococcal bacteria, and that known contacts had already been told how to access antibiotics. Anyone who believed they had been in contact with a case but had not been contacted by UKHSA was told to attend the university's Senate building on Monday.
The university’s own statements made clear this was not being treated as a routine precaution. Acting vice-chancellor Georgina Randsley de Moura said there was an outbreak in the Canterbury area and that the university was affected, confirmed that one student had died, said others from the university community were in hospital, and announced that there would be no in-person assessments this week, but that the campus would remain.
That has been the balance of the response so far. The campus remains open, but much of normal university life has been knocked sideways. Officials have stressed that close contacts have been traced and antibiotics provided, while the scale of the messaging suggests how seriously the situation is being taken. NHS Kent and Medway says UKHSA worked with the university to send advice to all 16,000 students. The BBC has reported that more than 30,000 students, staff and families were being contacted with information about the outbreak.
There is still plenty unknown. Health officials are trying to work out exactly what links the cases and what sits behind the cluster, while rumours about where the infection may have spread have moved quickly enough for Helen Whately, the MP for Faversham and Mid Kent, to say she was urgently seeking more information and guidance from the NHS.
Some of that speculation has centred on Canterbury's nightlife. The BBC has reported that the outbreak is thought to be linked to a social event attended by some of those who fell ill. Much of the speculation revolved around Club Chemistry, and by this morning, KentOnline reported that UKHSA were considering offering antibiotics to anyone who attended the venue between 5 and 7 March.
That is obviously a serious development, but it still falls short of officials saying the outbreak began at a particular venue. For now, the more solid conclusion is that public health teams are trying to piece together a cluster of linked exposures in a city where students live, study and socialise in close proximity.
The second death took the story beyond the university. Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School in Faversham confirmed that a Year 13 pupil died on Saturday, making it no longer possible to see the outbreak solely as a university issue.
The NHS response has also become much more visible. East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust said it recognised the tragic circumstances of the outbreak and was working with UKHSA and NHS Kent and Medway to ensure hospital staff and GPs were alert for possible cases. NHS Kent and Medway has urged anyone with symptoms of meningitis or septicaemia to seek urgent help through A&E or by calling 999, while directing worried people to NHS 111.
Among students, though, reassurance has landed in an atmosphere of obvious anxiety. Kent Students’ Union said a number of students were receiving treatment in hospital and cancelled several upcoming events, despite saying public health guidance had not advised venues to close. Alongside the cancelled events and queues for antibiotics, TikTok filled with videos from students saying they were leaving Canterbury and going home.
That gives a fairly clear picture of the mood. The university is still operating, but not in anything like a normal way.
The wider city is feeling it too. Trans Pride Kent said it was monitoring the situation and would decide whether it needed to move its event later this month. Canterbury parkrun cancelled its 21 March event, saying it would be inappropriate to celebrate its anniversary given what had happened.
Canterbury is now in the uncomfortable position of carrying on while something serious and unsettled is still unfolding around it. The campus remains open, and antibiotics are being handed out, but two young people are dead, others are in hospital, events are being cancelled, and families are waiting for answers.
For now, Canterbury is left waiting for fuller answers while public health teams carry on with the immediate job of tracing contacts, getting antibiotics to those who need them and making sure people know what symptoms to watch for.
After a weekend that has already brought real grief and a fair amount of fear, the city now has to try to regain its footing while the full picture is still being pieced together.
Cliftonville by-election latest
- The deadline for nominations passed last week, with six candidates making it onto the ballot paper for the 9 April election: Joanne Bright (Labour), Lucy Gray (Independent), Charlie Leys (Conservative), Marc Rattigan (Reform), Mo Shafaei (Liberal Democrat), and Rob Yates (Green).
- We've covered most of these candidates as they announced in previous weeks, but the new name here is Lucy Gray, who is a lawyer who runs The Green Kitchen on Northdown Road in the ward. She is running on a platform focused on affordable housing, education, and the local economy.
- Despite pledging to do so, Restore failed to get a candidate on the ballot paper, either as a party representative or as a backed independent.
- Former Tory leadership hopeful whose ambition proved far more transferable than his principles, Robert Jenrick, visited Cliftonville this week to support the Reform campaign.
- If social media likes were any indication of campaign success, Reform member since last month, and candidate Marc Rattigan would be running away with it. One day last week, his Facebook page leapt from 23 likes to 1.1k, while his followers leapt from 2.3k to 3.7k, and then suddenly stopped. Which definitely sounds like the natural growth trajectory of a grassroots local campaign. We're certain new followers like LuckyBoutiquemax32, RiverGuildmax723, and PleasantOasisverified775 will be heading down to Cliftonville to support the campaign in the coming days.
Council matters
Meetings this week:
- Canterbury: Cabinet meets tonight (Monday) to discuss waste management strategies, River Stour environmental credits, and expansion options for Wincheap Park & Ride.
- Gravesham: Cabinet gathers tonight (Monday) to update the corporate risk register and, er, look at the council's achievements.
- Canterbury: Council will meet on Wednesday for an extraordinary meeting to progress the Local Plan process.
- Maidstone: Cabinet meets on Wednesday to talk about bulky waste, empty homes, and efforts to block Invicta House being turned into a HMO.
- Kent: County Council meets on Thursday to discuss councillor allowances, council finances, as well as motions on an illegal migration 'emergency' and water infrastructure.
- Maidstone: Planning Committee will decide on 100 homes in Lenham on Thursday, as well as 35 homes south of the town, 20 homes in Ulcombe, and lots more.
- Sevenoaks: Cabinet will gather on Thursday to talk community grant schemes, waste, and more.
- Thanet: Cabinet meets on Thursday to discuss regeneration, temporary accommodation, support for a foundation strategic authority for Kent, and lots more.
New planning applications:
- Sevenoaks: Creation of a new road to be used as an agricultural access track.
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In brief
🚰 Both South East Water and Southern Water will be allowed to increase prices at a rate higher than the independent regulator initially proposed.
🚱 South East Water has also said it will 'struggle' to supply 23,000 new homes around Canterbury and 19,000 new homes in Tonbridge & Malling.
🏘️ Plans for 725 new homes in Meopham have not gone down well.
💷 Local Democracy Reporter Dan Esson has been looking into Tonbridge MP Tom Tugendhat's £200,000 in outside financial interests.
🤌 A Tonbridge teacher has argued that he didn't inappropriately touch a student, noting that he's just Italian.
👮♂️ A Kent Police officer made racist comments two weeks after joining the force.
👮 Kent Police officers will have their allowances cut by £250.
🏗️ Gravesham firms are being helped to win work on the Lower Thomas Crossing project.
🖼️ Kent County Council has been criticised over the sale of a unique collection of photographs.
🛹 Builders have been appointed to build a £1.1m skatepark in Margate.
🧖 The UK's largest beach spa and sauna has opened in Folkestone.
🍝 Shoreditch Italian restaurant Senza Fordo is set to open an eatery in Tunbridge Wells.
🍲 The Daily Mail is very excited about Sevenoaks' Afro-fusion restaurant Shwen Shwen.
🐶 A Kent dog has given birth to a record breaking litter of 17 puppies.
🐮 Kent Wildlife Trust have had to warn visitors to keep their distance from highland cows at Hothfield Heathlands after the big floofs went viral on TikTok.
⛳ The British Minigolf Championships take place in Margate this weekend.
Property of the week
This week’s property is a freshly renovated two-bedroom mid-terrace on Waterloo Place in Ramsgate, pitched very much at the “just bring a toothbrush” end of the market. It’s chain-free, has a log burner in the front lounge for maximum cosy points, a separate dining room, and a neat kitchen at the back with wooden worktops plus a separate utility area. The agent is also offering it fully furnished by separate negotiation, which is either convenient or slightly ominous depending on your attitude to other people’s sofas. It’s two streets back from the seafront, within easy reach of the harbour and town centre, and it’s on for offers over £250,000.
Events this week
🎭 17 - 21 Mar - To Kill a Mockingbird // Aaron Sorkin's award-winning stage adaptation of the seminal novel. Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury. Tickets from £32.
Footnotes
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