IPOH, July 5 — A newborn baby girl found abandoned in a paper bag left in front of a flat complex at Jalan Hospital here yesterday has been warded at the Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital until her condition improves.

State Character Development, Women and Family Development, and Social Welfare Committee chairman Wong May Ing said the baby had to undergo follow-up treatments including HIV screening.

"The baby still needs to be warded to receive follow-up treatments,” she told Bernama when contacted here today.

She said the Social Welfare Department would process the baby’s birth certificate once she received a clean bill of health.

"We have yet to decide whether to hand over the baby under the care of a foster family or to place her in a child care centre,” she said.

It is understood that the baby was found by a man who had spotted the paper bag with the baby inside, dangling on the side mirror of a car at 12.15am.

Yesterday, Ipoh district deputy police chief Supt Abdul Rani Alias said the baby was believed to have been born two days ago.

He said the investigation was still ongoing under Section 317 of the Penal Code for concealing a birth with the intent of abandoning an infant. — Bernama