However, PM says the transition also relies on collective efforts in reducing the Covid-19 transmission

pic by BERNAMA

MOST states in Malaysia are expected to move into the final stage of the National Recovery Plan (NRP) as early as October, ahead of the initial timeline of November and December, said Prime Minister (PM) Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin (picture).

However, Muhyiddin said Malaysia’s transition from one phase to another also relies on the collective efforts in reducing the Covid-19 transmission which in turn would reduce the pressure on the country’s public healthcare and expedite the vaccination programme.

“With the continuous efforts to facilitate the country’s recovery process and the immunisation programme, we expect most states to be able to move to the fourth phase of the NRP as early as October.

“The government has decided at the special meeting of the National Security Council, for states that are already in the second phase, they will not return to the first phase.

“Same goes to states that have neutered the third phase will not shift back to the second phase as the recovery plan is based on the approaches of exit strategy and “no turning back”,” he said at the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.

Muhyiddin said, according to NRP, for a state to move on to another phase, it has to achieve a certain threshold value of Covid-19 cases, vaccination rates and hospital admissions.

He added that NRP focuses on the strategies to bring the country out of the pandemic threat safely and systematically by stressing on easing the burden of the public health system, reopening the economic sector and allowing social activity within six months until the end of the year.

“To move from Phase One to Phase Two, a state must meet all three threshold values, namely reducing the daily cases to below 12.2 cases per 100,000 population, stabilising the hospital bed occupancy in intensive care unit wards to a moderate level and administering vaccine doses to over 10% of its adult population,” he added.

To date, Muhyiddin said eight states have moved into the second phase — Perlis, Perak, Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang, Penang, Sabah and Sarawak.

“For the first phase of NRP, it involves a wider implementation of the Movement Control Order (MCO) with restricted social and economic activities except for the necessary services such as grocery stores, health goods manufacturers, utility services and others.

“The second phase also involves a strict implementation of MCO with economic activities being opened gradually by increasing the number of sectors in the positive list.

“The government will continue to monitor the situation in each state closely from time to time, including executing intervention measures when needed and conduct assessments on the readiness of any state to move to the second, third or fourth phases,” he said.

Muhyiddin also said further details on Malaysia’s economic recovery plan will be revealed in the tabling of the 12th Malaysia Plan and Budget 2022 on Sept 20 and Oct 29 respectively.

“Budget 2022 will be focusing on three key areas — driving the economic recovery agenda, rebuilding the country’s resilience and catalysing reforms, or “Recovery, Resilience and Reform”.

“In this regard, special focus will be given to rebuild affected sectors such as the tourism sector, enhance the capacity of the public health system, widening the scope of social protection and boost the digital economy,” he said.

The special parliamentary meeting, which convenes for the first time this year yesterday after seven months of inactivity, serves asa crucial platform for the government to convince the public of its efforts in managing the Covid-19 pandemic and keep them in the loop on the country’s current situation.