ALOR STAR – The Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) campus in Sintok, Kedah, is under lockdown after 11 students tested positive for Covid-19.
Vice-Chancellor Prof Datuk Ahmad Bashawir Abdul Ghani told The Vibes that the index patient is a student who recently returned from Sabah, where coronavirus infections have seen a worrying increase.
“One of them is from Sabah. He returned to campus before the government directive for returnees from Sabah to undergo swab tests and quarantine.
“He infected 10 friends living in the same dorm.”
Bashawir said the varsity has closed its residential college.
“This matter has nothing to do with the issue of registration because UUM has, from the beginning, instructed students to register online.”
The 11 students are now undergoing treatment at Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital here.
A statement by UUM said the campus is under lockdown, with no one allowed to enter or leave.
Those already on campus grounds are subjected to strict movement curbs, it said, adding that food will be provided to them.
UUM’s campus in Sintok is one of the most isolated in the country, with the nearest town, Changloon, 15km away.
Kedah health exco Datuk Dr Mohd Hayati Othman confirmed that the UUM cases started with the Sabah returnee.
“Before we could react, it had spread to 11 students. We hope to contain the situation using our stringent measures.”
He said the state is facing its third Covid-19 wave, warning that the disease is spreading more quickly this time around.
The UUM infections make the varsity the third major cluster in Kedah, after a housing estate in Kota Setar and a prison complex here.
The state now has the highest number of coronavirus cases in the peninsula. – The Vibes, October 5, 2020
