Covid-19: Pupils encouraged to wear face masks but not compulsory, says Health Minister

KUCHING: Pupils will be encouraged to wear face masks when they return to school next week but it will not be compulsory, says Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa.

She said this was in view of the current downward trend of Covid-19 cases in the country.

"Face masks will not be mandatory but we encourage students to wear them, especially in crowded and congested areas," she told a press conference after attending a Health White Paper town hall session at the Sarawak General Hospital here on Thursday (April 27).

Dr Zaliha said she would meet Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek soon to discuss the guidelines and standard operating procedures for pupils, which will be issued before school reopens next week.

"We want to ensure that pupils are safe when they return to school," she said.

Dr Zaliha had earlier proposed making face masks mandatory in schools again to prevent a Covid-19 surge from the new XBB.1.16 subvariant, also known as Arcturus.

However, she said the number of cases had declined by 28% from 2,800 in epidemiological week 16 to 2,014 cases in epidemiological week 17.

"There's no need to panic based on the number of cases at the moment.

"The cases, which involve the new subvariant, are mostly found to be in Categories 1 and 2.

"So we still maintain the current SOP of encouraging the public, including school children, to mask up in crowded places," Dr Zaliha said.

She added that the ministry would monitor the situation daily.

"If a new SOP becomes necessary, we will come up with them. But based on the current situation, our decision is to encourage the use of masks," she said.