Uggah (second left) takes a closer look at the waiting area for the PPV. Also in the photo are Miro (fourth left), Henry (third left) and Bau district officer Anielia Siam (left).
BAU (July 4): Sarawak will be requesting for district by district assessment to be used in determining the transition to the next phases of the National Recovery Plan (NRP), said Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas.
Presently, the state is in Phase One of the NRP where there are still strict guidelines and standard operating procedures (SOP) to be followed under the Movement Control Order (MCO) 3.0 such as no dining in at eateries and restricted inter-district movement.
Uggah, who is also Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) chairman, said the state government would leave the decision to the National Security Council(NSC) based on the stated threshold values.
“We want to request from the federal government that Sarawak be assessed based on each district’s Covid-19 situation and performance, rather than the state as a whole.
“Sarawak is a very big state and as big as Peninsular Malaysia. There is Limbang, which can meet the NSC assessement benchmark,” he told the media after visiting the Covid-19 vaccination centre (PPV) for Bau here today.
He was asked by reporters on whether the federal government should allow the state to proceed into phase two and so forth of the NRP.
Sarawak is still recording Covid-19 cases in the three digits, with 361 cases registered yesterday.
Limbang Division, comprising the districts of Limbang and Lawas which are yellow zones having registered eight and nine cases respectively in the last 14 days.
Yesterday, Senior Minister (Security) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob and Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz announced that five states – Kelantan, Pahang, Perak, Terengganu and Perlis – have fulfilled three indicators of the NRP and will move into Phase Two on July 5.
They said that these five states were being rewarded for having lowered their number of cases, having better control of the beds in ICU wards and having increased the percentage of the population vaccinated in accordance to set thresholds under the NRP.
Ismail Sabri, who is also Defence Minister, was quoted as saying that the states moving to Phase Two will see more businesses allowed to open.
On June 15, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had announced the four-phase NRP – with Phase One being the most restrictive.
Meanwhile, Uggah on another matter said Sarawak was looking forward to the arrival of the single dose Cansino vaccine expected in middle or end of this month.
“So we are looking at the supplies as promised by the federal government to beef up our vaccination programme particularly in the deep interiors,” he said.
Uggah was joined during the visit to Bau PPV by Deputy Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities 11 Datuk Willie Mongin, Tasik Biru assemblyman Datuk Henry Jinep, Serembu assemblyman Miro Simuh and Deputy State Secretary Datuk Ik Pahon.
Based on earlier news reports, it was revealed that the state had requested for 650,000 doses of this Cansino which is very much suitable for the people living deep in the interiors like the Penans.
Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin had announced on June 21 that the first delivery of the Cansino vaccine from CanSino Biologics Inc, China is scheduled to arrive in the country in July.
On June 15, Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah announced that Malaysia had given conditional approval for Cansino vaccine, or Convidecia Recombinant Novel Coronavirus Vaccine (Adenovirus Type 5 Vector) produced by the CanSino Biologics Inc, China, which need only one dose to be administered.