PUTRAJAYA, May 18 — Parents and guardians who insist on bringing their young children to public places without valid reasons are likely to face legal action, said Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.
He said the Health Ministry (MOH) and the National Security Council (MKN) will hold a discussion tomorrow on the implementation of enforcement against those stubborn parents.
Currently, MOH and MKN are 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 a Covid-19 daily media conference here, today.
Dr Noor Hisham was responding to a reporter who was asking if the MOH would issue any directives regarding the actions of parents who took their children to public places during the conditional movement control order (CMCO) period.
He also stressed that said the level of compliance of the standard operating procedure (SOP) still needs to be improved despite the number of new positive cases of Covid-19 infection during the two weeks of CMCO has been maintained at double digits.
He said the SOP-compliance among the people was very important before the implementation of the exit strategy to be considered, otherwise, the CMCO could always 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.
Meanwhile, Dr Noor Hisham also congratulated the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia which celebrates its 50th anniversary today.
“As a UKM graduate I pray that it will continue to produce excellent and competitive graduates with its slogan “Inspiring Futures, Nurturing Possibilities”,” he said.
— Bernama
