Hishammuddin: Seven components to be met before transition to endemic phase

Seven components need to be met before the country can enter the endemic phase or reopen safely towards living with Covid-19, Senior Minister of Defence Hishammuddin Hussein said.

He said this comprises having one standard operating procedure with nine guidelines; a Heightened Alert System - HAS; National Testing Strategy; and TRIIS (Test, Report, Isolate, Inform, Seek).

It also entails having an automated ‘Find, Test, Trace, Isolate, Support’ (FTTIS) system, the gradual reopening of national borders, as well as community empowerment ambassadors.

"However, all this depends on the Covid-19 Pandemic Management Special Committee meeting chaired by Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, which will be held this week or next week," Hishammuddin said at a press conference at the Parliament House yesterday.

He added that the transition to the endemic phase would be done simultaneously across the country, based on international components, including those set by the World Health Organization.

Hishammuddin said this was among the matters decided during the Covid-19 Quartet Ministerial Meeting yesterday to ensure that all plans to head towards the endemic stage ran smoothly, was understood by all parties and did not affect efforts to curb the spread of Covid-19 in the country.

He said the transition to the endemic phase was the government's next step as all the states, except Sarawak and Kelantan, were already in Phase 4 of the National Recovery Plan.

Apart from that, Hishammuddin said the government had also carefully and gradually managed the relaxation of rules, including the reopening of the industrial sector, allowing inter-state movement, the reopening of schools and institutes of higher learning as well as the implementation of the tourism bubble.

He said the gradual reopening of the country's borders was also one of the important aspects in the transition to the endemic phase.

This covers tourism under the Tourism Ministry; entry of foreign workers under the Human Resources Ministry; business travel under the International Trade and Industry Ministry; and vaccinated travel lanes (VTL) scheme for air travel under the Transport Ministry and the Foreign Affairs Ministry.

The VTL scheme for air travel allows individuals who have been fully vaccinated to travel to selected countries without having to undergo quarantine.

- Bernama