PAKATAN Harapan’s (PH) health committee urged Putrajaya to tighten the relaxed standard operating procedure (SOP) for those fully inoculated against Covid-19 in states that have entered phases two and three of the national recovery plan.
 
It warned that haste decisions taken without proper care and consideration could further harm the reopening of the country. 
 
“A hasty and poorly thought reopening would only introduce an additional unpredictable variable into the pandemic equation, further embarrassing the struggling healthcare,” the committee said in a statement that was signed by 12 PH representatives.
 
The committee proposed five parameters that should be satisfied before granting the “Green Pass” to the fully-immunised.
 
The five parameters are:  
 
1. Vaccination coverage of at least 60%.
2. All high-risk group to be fully vaccinated.
3. Healthcare capacity at less than 70% occupancy.
4. Improved Covid-19 testing strategy, as well as a positivity rate of less than 5%.
5. Covid-19 incidence rate of less than 250 per 100,000 of active cases.
 
The committee said that these indicators will allow a safe and sustainable transition to take place, adding that they can preserve the fine balance between lives and livelihoods. 
 
The latest data shows that 8.8 million or 37.5% of the adult population have been vaccinated, while 15.8 million or 67.4% have received their first dose.
 
Yesterday, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin announced that the government will relax its SOP for fully-vaccinated individuals in states that have entered he second and subsequent phases of the national recovery plan from August 10, 2021 onwards.

The eased restrictions will allow dine-ins, inter-district travel, tourism activities within the state, as well as sporting activities that do not involve close contact. 
 
The only states that are currently in phase one are Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Putrajaya, Negri Sembilan, Johor, Malacca and Kedah. 
 
The committee said that despite the privileges given to those fully-inoculated, public health measures like wearing face masks, practising physical distancing, as well as hygiene must still be adhered to. – August 9, 2021.