malaysiangMELAKA, March 2 — The Melaka state government has requested the Public Service Department (JPA) to list COVID-19 as a communicable disease to enable parents to apply for unrecorded leave if their children need to be quarantined.
State Health and Anti-Drug Committee chairman Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh said the facility would be similar to the leave allowed under Service Circular Number 11 of 2016, namely to take care of children infected with six listed infectious diseases, such as hand, foot and mouth disease and diphtheria.
“It takes into account the constraints and difficulties faced by civil servants following the decision to require employees recorded as asymptomatic close contacts to be present for work beginning March 1.
“In that situation, of course, no guardian can accept their children, and this force the parents to take annual leave, and it would create more difficulties by the end of the year, as the leave quota has been exhausted,” he told reporters after the State Legislative Assembly sitting at the Seri Negeri Complex in Ayer Keroh here today.
Earlier, Muhammad Akmal (BN-Ayer Merlimau) answered a question from Adly Zahari (PH-Bukit Katil) on the percentage of people in the state of Melaka who had received their COVID-19 vaccine booster dose.
In the meantime, Muhammad Akmal said 35 individuals in the state were reportedly admitted to the hospital to receive follow-up treatment due to Adverse Events Following Immunisation (AEFI) after their immunisation, and they had fully recovered.
He said the number was from a total of 700,000 people in Melaka who had received the vaccine.
Meanwhile, he said as of now, 37.3 per cent of children aged 5 to 11 years old in Melaka had been vaccinated, and that the state had the second-highest immunisation rate for the age group after Sarawak.
“The response received from parents is very encouraging after almost a month of this programme being introduced among children, and we hope the people in Melaka get their children vaccinated because it is proven to be safe,” he added.
Source: BERNAMA News Agency
