Many factors to consider, PM says on moving to Phase Two of National Recovery Plan

The government will have to study various factors including the actual Covid-19 situation in the country and ongoing intervention methods before deciding whether to move into Phase Two of the National Recovery Plan, says Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

He said although the government had set certain targets like dates and periods, number of cases, vaccination milestones, and usage of ICU beds, the actual situation frequently changes.

“It (the 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 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 yesterday.

Muhyiddin also said the government monitors developments through the health ministry and all available systems to determine possible intervention methods.

“For example, the data is still a bit high and we want to bring it to below 4,000 cases. Today there are 4,743 cases, so not far off the target. We need to see the intervention by the health ministry 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 SOPs,” he added.

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

“We have a few more days to go (until June 28). So if the rate (of infection) can drop further it means we are on schedule and will move to Phase Two.

“Because of this we won’t make an announcement now. Normally, we will decide only two or three days before that whether to extend or move on (to the next phase),” he said, when asked if the government would move on to Phase Two of the movement control order as Phase One is scheduled to end on June 28.

Earlier, Health Minister 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% with 10% of the population vaccinated.