The students have been told to stay inside their residential colleges, said UMS deputy vice-chancellor Raman Noordin in a statement today.

He did not give any details for the decision, only that it was due to “reasons that could not be prevented”.

On May 3, the university had said the students would be allowed to return to their hometowns from May 5.

This followed criticisms by parties who questioned why the students had to undergo 14 days’ quarantine after having already stayed on campus for more than 40 days.

Raman said then the university was making travel arrangements to ensure all students returned safely to their hometowns.

“The students have been informed that they would be sent home in phases,” he said.

Fake or not? Check our quick fake news buster here.