Sin Chew Daily

The government has imposed the movement control order in a bid to flatten the curve of the coronavirus outbreak in the country. Schools are closed, gatherings are banned and almost 100,000 tertiary students have been barred from traveling out of state.

These students are not allowed to go back to their hometowns and are stranded in the city. While we can understand their homesickness, the government simply cannot lift the ban deliberately in order to effectively contain the viral outbreak.

However, with the outbreak somewhat tamed down now, the government has made up its mind to allow varsity students to return to their respective hometowns, with the first batch of 1,128 students in the central region leaving for home Monday night, including 863 to the north.

It is yet to be seen whether this "balik kampung" rush will have an undesirable impact on the country's coronavirus outbreak. Nevertheless, there has been concern such a massive "balik kampung" traffic could facilitate the spread of the virus.

The government has drawn up plans before allowing the students to go back, taking the necessary preventive measures including allowing only students from green zones to return to their hometowns which are also in the green zones, to minimize the risk of infection.

Moreover, before the students can pack up and leave for their hometowns, they have to go through a screening procedure that includes temperature taking and checking for symptoms of sore throat and cough, among others.

The government has taken the necessary preventive steps instead of giving the green light freely. However, we cannot deny that risks are still there and any lapse or non-compliance of rules along the way will help the virus spread further.

The students must also abide by the MCO rules after they have reached their hometowns, not to join any gathering and observe safe social distances.

Other than tertiary students, many others stranded in their hometowns and awaiting government green light to return to the city for work will pose yet another monumental challenge.

These people left the city for their hometowns before the MCO went into effect, and they now need to go back to the city to work for a living.

Those who wish to return to the city must download the "Gerak Malaysia" app and apply for a permit to travel across state borders, or register at the nearest police stations.

Some half a million people have registered through Gerak Malaysia as of Monday. Half of them, or about 250,000, have applied to travel out of state.

If all these applications are approved, it will present yet another enormous tide of human movements.

Defense ministry senior minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob has said the government has not set the date and time for those stranded in their hometowns to get back to the city. After this is finalized, the government will have to draw up a set of SOPs with the hope the massive "balik bandar" rush will not negatively impact the country's effort to fight the coronavirus.

The "balik kampung" and "balik bandar" traffic will pose a severe challenge to the government's battle against the coronavirus. It is imperative that the government tighten its surveillance in a bid to minimize the risk and stop the virus from spreading across state borders.