To clarify, on campus, not registered with either university, but on their campuses.
Re: student numbers in Brighton, a difficulty the Council has is that it can only produce its total number of students based on electoral roll returns. I wonder how many Chinese students complete the electoral roll forms, given that they're not allowed to vote here anyway.
Shady, I suggest if you want an accurate number, you make a Freedom of Information Request to the two private colleges operating out of the universities campuses. My information is based on what the trade unions on those campuses think is happening (obviously, if you hide student numbers core staff are put under much more strain), combined with information from the NHS (which is sensitive and, therefore, confidential).
Headline article from the Guardian today (who I don't believe are the gutter press) 'Coronavirus evacuations begin as China cases outstrip Sars'. In terms of global migration, the picture has really changed since SARS (2002) 'In 2007-2008, there were 43,530 Chinese students in the UK, according to the Higher Education Statistics Agency (Hesa). Ten years later the total went up to 106,530, of which 60,460 were postgraduate students and 46,070 undergraduates' (and obviously this figure doesn't include those in the private colleges doing pathway courses, or the joint initiatives between institutions here and those in mainland China).
Re: something we're not being told. Forgetting for a moment that one of the contributing problems is that the virus mutates so quickly that it's makes it more difficult to produce a vaccine, yes, the elephant in the room is how this is going to affect the world economy. I really don't know the figures, but China is one of the global economic engines. It's now, effectively, shut for business, both in terms of production and consumption, and no one knows for how long. The stock market is already beginning to slide. Obviously, in time, it will recover, but it depends how far it slides as to what (if any) knock on effects there are.
Re: the animal thing, we're not exactly covered in glory here either, e.g. live calf exports.