KUALA LUMPUR, June 3 — Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah today shared that the Ministry of Health (MoH) recorded three deaths from Covid-19 cases involving children under the age of five in the first five months of 2021.

In a statement, Dr Noor Hisham said this is alarming as Malaysia recorded the same number of deaths involving children under the age of five throughout 2020.

"Three cases of Covid-19 deaths involving children under five years old have been reported throughout 2020. However, the same number was recorded in a shorter period, as three deaths were recorded in the first five months of 2021,” he said.

He also said that 27 children have already been admitted to paediatric intensive care unit (ICU) so far this year, and 19 of them were below five years old.

In comparison, only eight children were admitted last year, six of them below the age of five.

Dr Noor Hisham said that he hopes that all parties, especially parents and guardians of young children, can play an important role in protecting those with low immunity such as infants and children.

"Let’s build a safe environment for them by fully complying with the existing SOPs and for the adults eligible for vaccine, please get vaccinated,” he said.

Yesterday, Dr Noor Hisham urged parents and guardians of young children to be more proactive in protecting their children from the Covid-19 outbreak in the country after Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba revealed that a total of 82,341 cases of Covid-19 infection in the country involved infants and children.