CID chief: Advisable not to bring young children to crowded places

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KUCHING: While it is not mandatory for children under two years old to wear face mask, it is advisable that parents do not bring them out to crowded places, said Sarawak Criminal Investigation Department (CID) chief SAC Denis Leong.

He said bringing children out to crowded places could potentially expose them to Covid-19.

He also emphasised that members of the public should wear face mask at all times in public places and crowded places where social distancing cannot be practised.

“At the moment, we are advising people to wear face mask while we are waiting for Bukit Aman to issue guidelines on the action to be taken.

“Once the guidelines are out, then we will take more drastic action. So at the moment, we are advising the public to wear face masks,” he said at a press conference here on the daily Covid-19 update in Sarawak yesterday.

Leong said that the keywords to remember are ‘crowded areas’ and ‘social physical distancing’.

“It is mandatory to wear face mask if you are on public transport system, for example buses or e-hailing cars. Wearing face mask is mandatory in public areas such as markets, night markets or ‘pasar tani’.

“There is also an issue about crowded places – how do you define wearing of face mask in crowded areas? Crowded areas are where you cannot practise social distancing, so if you go into a convenience store or a beach or football field that is not crowded and you can practise social distancing, then it is not necessary to wear face mask,” Leong said.

He said that drivers in private cars did not need to wear face mask, but for motorbike riders waiting at a junction where physical distancing cannot be practised, it is advisable that they wear face mask.

“If you are riding alone and you can practise physical distancing, then you don’t need to wear face mask. That’s why we need the guidelines so that we are clear on this issue,” Leong stated.