NSC mulls law against parents taking children to public places

CORONAVIRUS | The government is mulling the need to penalise parents who insist on bringing their young children out with them to public places without reason despite the risk of Covid-19 infection.

Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob (below) said the National Security Council (NSC) will discuss the matter with the Health Ministry as well as the Attorney-General's Chambers to “come to an agreement”.

However, he said, such a move must be considered carefully as it could have unforeseen implications and must be based on the rule of law.

“Many parents are still taking young children to mall and public places...If we wish to take action against parents, it must be according to the law, even regulation under Act 342 (Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988),” the senior minister said this during his daily press conference in Putrajaya today.

He said this when asked if the government would take sterner action against those insisting on bringing young children to public places such as shopping malls.

Act 342 stipulates a fine of up to RM1,000 and imprisonment of up to six months for those convicted. It is currently being used against those violating the movement control order (MCO).

This came after Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said on Friday that his ministry was considering such a move and the proposal was discussed with the NSC.

For the time being, Noor Hisham said his ministry would advise members of the public against such practices.

The health ministry has repeatedly warned that small children and elderly are among high-risk groups in the current coronavirus pandemic.

'Superman, Batman and Badang'

Meanwhile, Ismail reiterated that all shoppers are only required to provide their name and contact number - for tracing purposes in the event of a Covid-19 infection - before entering any business premise.

He, however, acknowledged that certain premises required patrons to write their real names based on their MyKad as there have been cases of those who wrote names including "Superman, Batman and Badang".

"That is why certain business premises have asked for names according to MyKad," said Ismail when asked for comments on security concerns after certain shops had requested for a visitor's MyKad number on top of their names and contact details.

"So don't worry. If they are worried that their MyKad number could be abused, don't need to write it.

"Just write their full name and contact number, that's all," he said.

All essential businesses have remained open since the MCO was first enforced on March 18 and almost all commercial premises, including shopping malls, have reopened since May 12 with stricter standard operating procedures that include recording contact details of its visitors.

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