THE start of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak’s (Unimas) academic year in October has been thrown into jeopardy as many of its students from the peninsula, Sabah and Labuan, have failed to meet Sarawak’s strict Covid-19 entry requirements for re-entering the state, sources told The Malaysian Insight.

Many of the students, who have returned home since the university was ordered closed due to the pandemic, could be denied a re-entry permit as they are either not fully vaccinated or are still waiting to be vaccinated, sources said.

Unimas’s deputy vice chancellor for student affairs Thomas Kana confirmed the situation to The Malaysian Insight.

“We have no idea of the number affected just yet,”

“We’re still gathering it and discussing how to tackle the problem,” he said.

“The rule is beyond our control and we must abide by it,” he added.

The state disaster management committee on August 20 revised the entry rules that now require non-Sarawakians to show their digital vaccination certificates in their entry permit application.

The revision was made as the state is grappling with a wildfire-like spread of infections caused by the Delta variant of Covid-19 in the Kuching and Samarahan districts.

Those who are not vaccinated for medical reasons are required to submit a medical letter as proof.

One other major requirement is a negative result from a RT-PCR Covid-19 test taken three days before their flight.

Kana said the university’s fallback option is to continue with online learning. However, he added that the university is still trying to get certain students – those studying engineering and medical students – back to physical class.

Sources said a majority of the university’s non-Sarawakian students, who make up 50% of its student population, have informed the university they may not be able to return.

“Some of these students are from major urban centres in the peninsula like Kuala Lumpur and Seremban,” one source said.

“How they still have not been vaccinated is beyond belief,” the source added.

Unimas is located in the Samarahan district, about 16km from Kuching city.

Samarahan, like Kuching, is a red zone for Covid-19 infections.

Yesterday, of the 1,538 new cases reported in Sarawak, 615 were in Kuching district, 129 in Serian, Lundu (115), Samarahan (103) and the rural coastal district of Pusa 102. – August 25, 2021.