KUCHING: Sarawak will move into the second phase of the National Recovery Plan (NRP) by next week if it meets the three main criteria or indicators.
Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Seri Dr Sim Hui Kian said the three criteria to get into phase two of the NRP are the number of Covid-19 cases per week, the number of intensive care unit (ICU) wards and facilities and the rate of vaccination.
“In terms of the number of cases, we are seeing a decrease. Hopefully, the number will continue to go down,” he said.
He was speaking to reporters while visiting a mobile vaccination centre (Mobile PPV) outreach programme at SJK Chung Hua Batu 10 basketball court, today.
“Yesterday (Friday), it was 406 cases and out of the total, 108 were from prison and detention centres which are in a contained environment, so it is not in the community.
“Therefore, they are not calculated as part of the numbers in terms of criteria,” Dr Sim explained.
He said that by July 22, the state aimed to achieve 50 percent of recipients who have completed their second dose.
“If we have reached 50 percent rate of vaccination for the second dose, then we can move on to the next phase of the NRP,” he said.
Dr Sim, who is also SDMC advisor, is confident that Sarawak would be ready to move into the second phase of NRP next week.
“However, we still need to take precautions, wear our face mask, practise social distancing and continue with our vaccination programme.
“Even though we start relaxing on economic activities, our social activities should still be very tightly controlled,” he added.
He noted that social activities such as birthday parties and receptions still need to be controlled tightly.
“We need cooperation from everyone because otherwise, we will be back to square one. We don’t want that to happen,” he said.
Dr Sim reminded that everyone needs to play their roles to make sure everything goes smoothly from this point on.
“I hope that Sarawak, from now on, can move forward and not backward. Otherwise, all of our efforts will be in vain.”
