COVID: Rise in number of critical, death cases involving children aged below five - Health DG

KUALA LUMPUR: There has been an increase in the number of COVID-19 critical and death cases among children aged below five years old this year compared to last year, said Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

He said three such fatalities were reported last year while, for this year, the same number of deaths had been recorded in just the first five months.

"Apart from that, the number of cases of children requiring treatment in the intensive care unit (ICU) also showed a significant increase. In 2020, a total of eight children were treated in the ICU, of which six were under the age of five.

"As for 2021 (until May), a total of 27 cases required treatment in the ICU and 19 of them were children below the age of five," he said in a statement today.

As such, Dr Noor Hisham advised all parties, especially parents and guardians, to play crucial roles in protecting groups with lower immunity, such as babies and children, against COVID-19.

He also urged the public to build a safe environment for this group by fully complying with the standard operating procedure (SOP) and getting the eligible adults vaccinated immediately.

-- BERNAMA