KUALA LUMPUR, April 21 — The government is to look into standard operating procedures (SOP) that may pave the way for students from campuses of higher learning institutions to return to their hometowns, said Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
He said the National Security Council (NSC) meeting had recently discussed the matter following problems faced by the students as well as to allay parents’ worries.
“Today, the Ministry of Health (MOH) has given its views on the matter as students have been on campus or in colleges for more than 28 days.
“If the students have no symptoms, it is safe to assume that they are not infected and there is a possibility to allow them to return home but we need to follow a strict SOP for this.
“We will look into the finer details of the SOP together with the NSC, MOH and also Higher Education Ministry if there is a decision to allow the students to return to their respective hometowns,” said Ismail during his daily security briefing on Covid-19.
Ismail, who is also the defence minister, said the SOP is important as to avoid a large scale movement of an estimated 80,000 to 100,000 students from higher learning institutions returning to their hometowns.
He said the SOP would look into how to manage the large number of students leaving their campuses for their hometowns.
“For example, just imagine the many buses on the highway’s rest areas that will be crowded and can cause a problem,” said Ismail.
Later, during the question and answer session, Ismail explained that there is no fixed timeline on the SOP’s announcement as it was also dependent on having the students screened for the Covid-19 infection that would take time.
