00:00A meningitis outbreak in Canterbury has meant many people here are on the first bus out of town.
00:05Two people have died with the illness and another 11 have been hospitalised.
00:09One of the dead is a 21-year-old student at the University of Kent
00:12and the other, Juliet, a Year 13 student at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School in Faversham.
00:17The UK Health Security Agency have contacted more than 30,000 people in the Canterbury area.
00:23Students from two different on-campus university halls have been told to head down to the Senate
00:27building just behind me here to collect antibiotics. You can see them queuing up around the block.
00:32They've been here since about half eight this morning, many of whom are wearing masks.
00:37Some people are going home, yeah, and a lot of people are saying that they're just going to stay in
00:40their rooms.
00:41Some people are scrambling trying to get antibiotics as well.
00:45Someone I used to work with is in hospital at the moment, but yeah, they're being treated so hopefully they're
00:51going to be okay.
00:52Well, especially when something's so local like that, it can feel personal.
00:55There's a chance to come out to know these people. Yeah, it's just been quite a lot, really.
01:00I think there's definitely some concerns for people's safety, understandably,
01:06but also the fact it was a delayed response to cancelled exams as well, adding that extra pressure on people.
01:12Club Chemistry, a nightclub in the city, has confirmed a visitor to the venue had contracted meningitis.
01:17The owner has called the news heartbreaking, but health chiefs are now weighing up whether to give antibiotics to anyone
01:23who attended the club across three nights earlier this month,
01:26with the potential operation affecting more than 2,000 people.
01:30An meningitis has been something I've been tackling with sort of all my life.
01:34I first had it when I was about 18 months old.
01:37It makes me feel quite concerned and just very uneasy.
01:43I've got, I'm quite tense right now because I've seen the damage it can do.
01:47I've seen people sort of without certain limbs.
01:50I've seen people who've been wheelchair bound.
01:52I've seen people who really struggle sort of in a day-to-day basis.
01:57And I'm quite lucky with sort of how I came out, but obviously it does cause to, it can lead
02:03to death, which can be quite concerning.
02:06Sources told Kent Online that staff at East Kent Hospitals have been told to wear full PPE when treating people
02:11with symptoms of meningitis.
02:13And for now, the university here has stopped in-person exams, but campus remains open.
02:18The UK HSA say they're working with local teams as the situation continues to unfold here.
02:24Chloe Brewster for KMTV in Canterbury.
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