KUALA LUMPUR: The number of new Covid-19 cases with serious symptoms will be used as a new indicator for the transition into phases two and three of the National Recovery Plan (NRP), says NRP Coordinating Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz.
He said this would replace the Covid-19 new cases indicator, using as proxy new hospital admission cases for Covid-19 adapted for categories three, four and five.
Having reached a vaccination rate of 40 per cent among the adult population, he said the number of new Covid-19 cases had become less relevant, as most cases were asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic (categories one and two), effectively reducing the burden on the public health infrastructure.
"However, the vaccination rate, as well as the intensive care unit (ICU) utilisation rate indicators are still maintained," he said in the 64th Report of the National Economic Implementation and Strategic Coordination Agency (Laksana).
Zafrul, who is also finance minister, said based on researched data and science, a high vaccination rate of the population helped reduce the number of serious symptomatic cases.
He said this trend was not only observed overseas, but in Sarawak and Labuan as well.
In line with the change in the key indicator for the transition into phases two and three, he said Perlis, Sarawak and Labuan had met set threshold value, and successfully moved to Phase Three of the NRP.
"Perlis has already met all the previous threshold values to move to Phase Three, while Sarawak has already achieved a vaccination rate of 63.7 per cent of the adult population, surpassing the threshold value for Phase Four for the indicator, which is 60 per cent.
"Although the number of Covid-19 cases in Sarawak is more than 300 a day, but the number of cases per day identified in categories three, four and five is less than 10 cases, or two per cent of the cases reported," he said.
According to Zafrul, the situation in Labuan is recognised as a resounding success, as not long ago, Labuan experienced a dire situation with uncontrolled transmission rates, but with rapid and widespread vaccination efforts, new Covid-19 cases, as well as ICU admissions, had dropped significantly. – BERNAMA