Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin stated that the first phase of the MCO that is under the National Recovery Plan (PPN) which is scheduled to end tomorrow will not be ended but may continue with no specific date.
The reason for the extension of the first phase is that the number of COVID-19 cases in the country has not exceeded the threshold of 4,000 cases. Only once the numbers have been reduced can the nation move on to the next phase.
“Now they say the Movement Control Order (MCO) is about to end. I want to say that from now on we don’t call it MCO, but we say we are in a particular phase and now we are in phase one (of PPN) until July, maybe the middle of the month or so.
“It is wrong to say June 28 is the end of the MCO.
“It’s not that June 28 is the end of PKP, that’s wrong … we are still in the first phase of VAT and will continue until it reaches the threshold value below 4,000 cases with cases in the Intensive Care Unit no longer at a critical level and vaccinations increased,” he said in a statement after visiting the vaccination centre at the Sunway Pyramid Convention as reported by NST.
Muhyiddin mentioned that phase one was designed to test the country’s resilience so that it could successfully complete all of the PPN phases.
On June 15, Muhyiddin announced the NRP which includes four phases that will shift in stages.
In order to transition to the second phase, the average daily case of COVID-19 needs to be below 4,000 cases as stated earlier. The public health system is no longer in a crisis situation since the rate of ICU bed usage has moderate levels and 10% of the population has got two rounds of vaccination shots.
As for the transition to the third phase, it should be implemented as early as the end of October 2021. If, among other things, the average daily case of COVID-19 falls below 2,000, and the threshold value is projected to be met as early as the end of August, the transition to the fourth phase is scheduled to begin as soon as the end of October 2021.
Muhyiddin said the government was paying special attention to the rise of Covid-19 infections in Selangor because the daily number of cases was over 2,000.
He said any area subject to the Enhanced Movement Control Order (PKPD) in the state would be implemented more strictly.
“Maybe we will take another follow-up step so that overall case numbers across the country continue to go down, but what is important is the cooperation of all. The public needs to adhere to standard operating procedures,” he said.