Officials mull action on parents who take kids to public places in Malaysia

PUTRAJAYA, May 18, 2020, Bernama. Parents and guardians who insist on taking their young children to public places without valid reasons are causing the likelihood of legal action, said health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah today, Free Malaysia Today reported.

He said the health ministry and the National Security Council (MKN) will hold discussions tomorrow on the implementation of enforcement against those stubborn parents.

He said the authorities were currently still using a soft approach by advising parents, before taking any action against them.

“We will discuss (with MKN) how we can enforce (action) against parents who insist on taking their young children to public places and hospitals without having prior appointment,” he said at his daily Covid-19 media briefing.

He had been asked if the ministry would issue any directives regarding the actions of those parents.

Noor Hisham said there was a need to improve the general level of compliance with hygiene procedures despite the double-digit number of new Covid-19 infections.

He said the level of compliance was very important before an exit strategy from current restrictions could be considered.

Otherwise the conditional movement control order could be extended. “We are not even discussing the exit strategy at this time, we are just giving the CMCO some leeway.

“If we obey (SOP) and positive new cases continue to be maintained at two digits, we might consider whether we need an exit strategy,” he said.