KOTA KINABALU: Students needing to stay in quarantine centres provided by the state government after coming back from overseas are concerned and not willing to do so after seeing the less than conducive state of the centres.

This was voiced by a recent group of students who returned from London and were shown the quarantine centres.

However, after discussions with the authorities, they were allowed to check into selected hotels as long as they paid for the rooms themselves.

One of the student’s parents, Sheilla Chong, said that her daughter and friends were asked to head straight to one of the quarantine centers upon arrival but they refused to stay there as the place was dirty and cramped.





“How can such a place be used for quarantine, especially now that it is most important to be clean, ” she asked.

She said her friends’ children who returned from the United States were asked to stay at another quarantine centre that faced similar problems.

“I am sure not all quarantine centres in Sabah have the same problem, but the ones we were asked to go to were uninhabitable, ” Chong said.

After speaking to the authorities, she finally got the green light to let the children check into a designated hotel as they passed the airport health screening, and she was willing to pay for the rooms.

She said under present circumstances, she understood that the government was trying its best to handle the Covid-19 pandemic but letting people stay in such facilities would probably bring more harm than good.

“We are not asking for five-star facilities but at least the place has to be clean with basic amenities," Chong said.

Nevertheless, she thanked those who helped her solve the problem.

“At least we as parents have peace of mind knowing that our children are being quarantined in a better place, ” she said.

State Health director Datuk Dr Christina Rundi said they were currently addressing the issue.

She, however, did not elaborate on what measures were being taken.



