Sibu hotel denies viral message on sick students in its premises

CORONAVIRUS | Premier Hotel Sibu, which is one of the hotels designated as a quarantine centre for students returning to central Sarawak town of Sibu, rubbished a claim made over social media that some of the 98 students who were placed at the hotel as persons under surveillance (PUS) were sick.

Its sales manager Tony Hii told Bernama that the claim, which also alleged the affected students had sought medical treatment for high fever at a clinic in Sibu, was also not true.

“No, the allegation is not true,” Hii said in dismissing the rumour as fake news when contacted yesterday evening, adding that the hotel would have sent any of the students to the hospital for treatment if any one of them fell sick.

Furthermore, he said, personnel from the Civil Defence Force and Rela were always on guard at the hotel after the premises was gazetted as a quarantine centre and it was not possible for the students to leave the hotel without the knowledge of the hotel management.

The fake news in the form of a voice message had been viralled among social app users in Sibu since Monday, claiming that two of the PUS, who were students returning from Peninsular Malaysia, have sought medical treatment at a clinic for high fever.

The voice message by a man claimed he came across the students at the clinic where he heard the doctor telling the students to seek treatment at the Sibu Hospital and reprimanded them for leaving the hotel.

Apart from the Premier Hotel, another 147 students are currently being quarantined at RH Hotel. Both hotels were chosen as quarantine centres by the state government to accommodate the students returning to their home towns via Sibu since April 30.

- Bernama