Ismail Sabri Yaakob
KUCHING: Students from Sabah and Sarawak currently staying in Peninsular Malaysia would have to wait a little longer before they can be allowed to return home during the Covid-19 pandemic, said Senior Minister (security cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob today.
Ismail Sabri said the cabinet had received a proposal from the Higher Education Ministry with regards to sending home students from both states during the now extended Movement Control Order (MCO) period.
He told a press conference in Putrajaya that the Ministry of Health was now reviewing the proposal in order to decide whether these students should be allowed to return home or stay put where they are during the third phase of the MCO to deter any transmission of the virus to their communities.
“There are 80,000 students living in accommodations provided by private and public institutes of higher learning, and this figure does not include those students renting outside but with the same needs of the students staying in campus.
“We need to review the situation as it involves a large number of students.
“The number also includes those who want to return to Sabah and Sarawak who of course need to undergo compulsory quarantine upon returning,” he said.
He was responding to a question on whether the government will allow them to return home, following news reports that Higher Education Minister Datuk Noraini Ahmad will bring up the matter to the Special Ministerial Meeting on Covid-19 today.
These developments follow a recent announcement by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who said that the MCO would be extended from April 15 to April 28.
According to Ismail Sabri, allowing these students to return may cause problems to their communities.
“The Health Ministry has noticed that the number of new Covid-19 cases are trending downwards, and we do not not want to jeopardise this and put all our efforts of asking people to stay at home to break the chain of infection to be wasted,” he said.
As for students abroad, Ismail Sabri reiterated the government’s position that they should stay where they are if possible.
He also said the government was aware that there are still Malaysians who are stranded abroad, and the Foreign Ministry was working to bring them back.