Abstract Relational ethics gained increased attention as a guiding approach for public health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Highlighting the social features of viral transmission, such as shared risk, relational ethics emphasizes the importance of collective responses rooted in values of community solidarity, mutual obligation and equity. However, many discussions of relational ethics have remained largely normative rather than empirical in character. In this paper, we report a study of relational ethics in the context of a COVID-19 asymptomatic testing programme implemented at a UK university during the pandemic. Exploring how staff and students considered the exceptional ethical demands and dilemmas of the pandemic, we show that respondents discussed participation in the asymptomatic testing programme in relational terms. In particular, they emphasised the mutual dependencies of communal living, the risks of community transmission, expectations for institutional care and distributed responsibility to care for those most vulnerable to severe disease. Our empirical findings advance normative discussions of relational ethics by demonstrating the relevance of institutional context and social change, offering insights for future public health interventions premised on relational values.