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KOTA KINABALU: Universiti Malaysia Sabah said tonight that students on campus will be allowed to return to their respective villages from May 5.
The move comes after FMT received criticism from stakeholders who questioned why UMS students had to undergo quarantine for 14 days after being on campus for more than 40 days.
UMS deputy vice chancellor, associate professor Raman Nordin, said the university was making travel arrangements to ensure that all students return safely to their home villages.
“The students have been informed that they would be sent home in phases,” he said.
Raman, who is also in charge of student affairs, said the latest updates on students returning home will be posted on the university’s official Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and WhatsApp.
College students on green zone campuses have been allowed to return to their homes beginning April 27, provided their home cities are also green zones.
A UMS spokesperson previously told FMT that the decision to quarantine the students had been under the recommendations of the State Department of Health.
He said he is unclear as to why the quarantine was performed now, rather than during the 40 days the students were on campus.
Sabah’s Prime Minister Mohd Shafie Apdal today ordered all students returning to Sabah to undergo home quarantine instead of being sent to quarantine centers as previously recommended by the State Department of Health.
Meanwhile, the director of the State Department of Health, Christina Rundi, said she was aware of criticism of the decision to send all students to quarantine centers before they can be sent home.
“The proposal had come after taking into account the large number of students who would return home and unknowingly carry the Covid-19 virus with them,” he said.
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