KOTA KINABALU: Sabah is not among the states which made it to the second phase of the National Recovery Plan (NRP), with effect from July 5, as it has not fulfilled one of the three key indicators.
The state has reduced the average number of daily Covid-19 cases and usage of intensive care unit (ICU) beds but was far from achieving the vaccination rate, with less than 10% of the population having completed both doses of the vaccine.
Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced at a virtual press conference on Saturday that Kelantan, Pahang, Perlis, Perak, and Terengganu have met the required thresholds to transition into Phase 2 of the NRP.
He said this decision was made based on the threshold values achieved by these states.
The three indicators for transition into phase two of the NRP are the national daily average Covid-19 cases must drop below 4,000, the utilisation of beds in the intensive care unit (ICU) should be at a moderate level and at least 10 per cent of the population should be fully vaccinated.
Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz said at the same press conference that the government’s decision to allow the five states to transit into a slightly more relaxed phase of the Covid-19 lockdown was based on their improved individual performance.
He said these statewide thresholds were similar to the four-phase benchmarks under the NRP, just scaled down to reflect the population of each state, their daily average number of new Covid-19 cases, their respective hospital ICU capacity and their respective vaccination rate.
“According to current statistics, 10 states actually have recorded statewide daily case averages that allow them to transition into Phase 2, but this is before other thresholds have been taken into account,” said Tengku Zafrul who is NRP coordinating minister.
A slide presented during the virtual press conference showed Perlis with the lowest seven-day case average of two cases and 0.8 cases per 100,000 people which actually is sufficient to move into Phase 4 of the NRP.
This was followed by Terengganu with a daily case average of 29 cases and 2.3 cases per 100,000, and Sabah with 217 daily case average and 5.6 cases per 100,000.
Selangor showed a seven-day case average of 2,462 cases and 37.7 cases per 100,000 people, while Kuala Lumpur had an average of 762 daily cases and 43 cases per 100,000 and Negri Sembilan with and average of 645 cases and 57.1 per 100,000.
As for the next two requirements, which are the capacity of ICUs in the state and the vaccination rate, the thresholds required are identical to the national requirements to exit each respective phase.
Concerning the use of ICUs, states must report a moderate load on the units to qualify to transition into Phase 2, and subsequently ‘adequate’ load permitting the state to transition into Phase 3 or Phase 4.
Currently all states except the five allowed to transition into Phase 2 have reported limited space in their respective ICU. Perak, Perlis and Terengganu report an “adequate” load on their units, while ICUs in Kelantan, Pahang and Sabah are currently at a “moderate” load.
The vaccination rates required in states to transition to the next NRP Phase, said Tengku Zafrul, also mirror the national requirements, with more than 10 per cent of the population required to have received their second vaccine dose to enter Phase 2, more than 40 per cent vaccinated to enter Phase 3, and more than 60 per cent vaccinated to enter Phase 4.
Statistics showed Putrajaya as the Federal Territory with the highest vaccination rate with 41.9 per cent of the population already with their second dose, followed by Labuan with 24.4 per cent fully vaccinated and Perlis with 23.5 per cent.
The rest of the states show vaccination rates for second doses below 20 per cent, while four states are below the 10 per cent mark, namely Selangor with only seven per cent fully vaccinated, Sabah with 7.8 per cent already with double dose, Johor with 9.5 per cent and Penang with 9.8 per cent.
Ismail Sabri said under phase two, inter-district and interstate travel is still prohibited except for school teachers and students of examination classes.
“Apart from this, special exemptions can be given to long distance couples in emergency cases and special needs with the approval of police,” he said.
He said sectors allowed to operate in phase two are those involved in trade and distribution comprising bookstores and stationery shops, computer and telecommunications shops, electrical appliances shops, car wash operators, and barber shops offering basic services.
‘Pasar tani’ and morning markets are allowed to operate from 7 am to 11 am, limited to selling six primary commodities of vegetables, fruits, groceries, seafood, processed chicken and meat, he said.
“However, weekly markets, night markets and ‘pasar tamu’ are still not allowed to operate,” he said.
Ismail Sabri said under phase two, worker capacity in the private sector involved in essential services will be raised to 80 per cent and employers must ensure physical distancing and adherence to the standard operating procedure (SOP) at all times.
He said non-contact sports and recreational activities conducted individually with physical distancing of at least two to three metres for health purposes, fitness and personal improvement are allowed.
These activities include jogging, exercise, taichi, cycling, skate boarding, fishing, equestrian, archery, hiking, singles in tennis, golf and motoring.