PETALING JAYA: A more comprehensive form of assistance for various groups will be announced today or tomorrow as the country remains under Phase One of Movement Control under the National Recovery Plan to curb the spread of Covid-19.
Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said he would announce the details of the assistance, including for small and medium enterprises.
The government, he said, was always working to ensure that the 12 million people or households in the country that are affected were given the appropriate assistance and support to cope with the impact of the pandemic.
“We are aware that everyone is waiting to see how the government is going to help those affected during this phase (of the National Recovery Plan) and subsequent phases until the end of the year.
“Of course, there will be assistance for the B40 and M40, and loan moratorium for the T20 (eligible) group.
“We have taken account of the needs of all these groups more comprehensively than before. I will announce the details tomorrow or the day after, so that everyone knows where we stand.
“But what’s important is that support is given to all groups in society. There may be an increase in the form of assistance to be extended,” he told reporters after visiting the vaccination centre at the Sunway Pyramid Convention yesterday.
Earlier, Muhyiddin announced that Phase One, which is scheduled to end today, would be extended as the number of Covid-19 cases had not dipped below the threshold of 4,000 cases required to move on to the next phase.
“Now, they say that the movement control order 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 until July, maybe middle of the month or so.
“It is wrong to say June 28 is the end of the MCO.
“I want to say that we are still in the first phase of recovery plan and this will continue until the threshold value of below 4,000 cases is reached, cases in the intensive care unit have dropped from the critical level and vaccinations have increased,” he said.
Phase One, he added, was to test the country’s resilience so that it could go through all the phases under the recovery plan smoothly.
On June 15, Muhyiddin announced the National Recovery Plan, which has four phases that will transition in stages.
To enable the transition to Phase Two, the average daily cases of Covid-19 should drop below 4,000, the public health system should be out of critical stage, including the rate of bed use in intensive care units returning to moderate levels, and 10% of the population to be fully vaccinated.
For Phase Three, the average daily cases should drop to below 2,000 – expected to be as early as the end of August – while Phase Four is set to kick in as early as the end of October.
Muhyiddin said the government was also paying special attention to Selangor as the state’s daily infections were consistently above 2,000 cases, adding that the enhanced MCO imposed in any area would be enforced more strictly.
“Why so? Because there are many cases in Selangor – whether at work, in residential areas or communities. If you want to reduce the rate, attention should be paid to these areas (under EMCO).
“Maybe we will take another follow-up step so that the 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.” — Bernama
Source: The Star
