Health Ministry: No plans to make face masks mandatory

CORONAVIRUS | The Health Ministry does not plan to make the wearing of face masks mandatory to prevent a third wave of Covid-19 infections.

Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said making it mandatory means those caught not wearing a mask could, for example, be issued a RM1,000 fine and be jailed if they fail to pay the compound.

"We don't want to use this method (to make it mandatory). But we really encourage the use of face masks especially in public, and if we have symptoms," Noor Hisham (below) said at a press conference in Putrajaya today.

He stressed that the virus is still out there and that the public must maintain hygiene and social distancing measures.

"It can spread again if we are careless," he said.

Meanwhile, on vaccinations, Noor Hisham said Malaysia is in negotiations to take part in third-phase trials.

However, he said studies on patients from the Sungai Lui cluster, three months after recovery found that antibodies against Covid-19 had decreased.

Hence, he said there are questions about the effectiveness of vaccines, and whether it could provide long-term immunity so that herd-immunity can be developed. - Mkini