Govt to assess actual situation before deciding on phase two of National Recovery Plan

TANGKAK: The government will have to study various factors including the actual COVID-19 situation in the country and intervention methods being implemented before deciding whether to move into phase two of the National Recovery Plan, said Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

The prime minister said although the government had set certain targets like dates and periods, number of cases, vaccination milestones, and usage of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds, the actual situation frequently changes.

"It (National Recovery Plan) has what we call threshold values ... but we have to understand that the situation changes and that is why we may make slight adjustments.

"This will be decided at the National Security Council (MKN) meeting which I chair to assess the situation," he told reporters after visiting the vaccination centre at Dewan Muafakat Johor Bukit Gambir in Bukit Gambir here today.

Muhyiddin said the government always monitors the latest developments through the Health Ministry (MOH) and all available systems to determine the intervention methods that can be implemented.

"For example, the data is still a bit high and we want to bring it below 4,000 cases. Today there are 4,743 cases, so not far off the target. We need to see the intervention by MOH and all existing systems (to bring situation under control).

"But that alone is not enough; the whole community including factories need to play their part by adhering to the standard operating procedure (SOP)" he added.

Muhyiddin, who is Gambir state assemblyman, also stressed the importance of ramping up the vaccination process to get a better control of the situation and reduce the number of positive cases faster.

"We have a few more days to go (June 28). So, if the rate (of infection) can drop further it means we are on schedule and will move to phase two.

"So, because of this we won't make an announcement now. Normally, only two or three days before that will we decide whether to extend or move on (to the next phase)," he said,

Muhyiddin said this when asked whether the government would move to phase two of the Movement Control Order 3.0 as phase one is scheduled to end on June 28.

Earlier, Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba said the country could move into phase two of the National Recovery Plan if the daily average number of COVID-19 cases drops below 4,000 for seven consecutive days.

He said ICU bed utilisation should also be below 75 per cent and 10 per cent of the population should be vaccinated for this phase to happen.

-- BERNAMA