FROM October 1, no state will be under phase 1 of the National Recovery Plan as movement restrictions are further relaxed in several states, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said today.

Kedah, which is currently the only state left in phase 1, will move to phase 2 from Saturday.

Malacca and the Klang Valley, which covers Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya, will move from phase 2 to phase 3.

Ismail, who chairs the Special Committee on Covid-19 Pandemic Management, said these decisions were made after risk assessments by the Health Ministry and the National Security Council.

Among the factors considered are the nationwide R-naught, which is 0.88, as well as the downward trend of ICU usage.

“Based on the R-naught trend, which has remained below 1.0, the government is confident that the overall trend of new Covid-19 infections will also drop, as long as people abide by the standard operating procedure (SOP), even though the number of daily cases can be inconsistent.

“Based on this, with Kedah moving from phase 1 to phase 2, there will no longer be any state in the country in phase 1,” Ismail said in a statement.

The prime minister added that the vaccination rate, which is currently 85.1% of the adult population as of yesterday, is also a factor for moving these states to the next phase.

Additionally, teenagers have also begun their inoculation programme and the government expects the majority of adolescents to be vaccinated by the time school reopens in stages next month.

With vaccine coverage reaching 90% of the adult population soon, the government will keep its promise to allow inter-state travel, Ismail Sabri reiterated.

“The government will also be looking at allowing more economic sectors to reopen as normal,” he said. – September 29, 2021.