Hisham lists 7 criteria needed to enter endemic phase

 

A national testing strategy was one of the criteria listed by defence minister Hishammuddin Hussein. (Bernama pic)

KUALA LUMPUR: Seven criteria need to be met before the country can enter the endemic phase, defence minister Hishammuddin Hussein said today.

He listed the seven criteria as follows:

• having one SOP with nine guidelines;
• a Heightened Alert System – HAS;
• National Testing Strategy;
• TRIIS (Test, Report, Isolate, Inform, Seek);
• an automated Find, Test, Trace, Isolate, Support (FTTIS) system;
• the gradual reopening of national borders; and
• community empowerment ambassadors.

“However, all this depends on the Covid-19 Pandemic Management Special Committee chaired by Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, which will be held this week or next,” he said in a press conference at the Parliament building today.

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

Hishammuddin said this was among the matters decided during the Covid-19 Quartet Ministerial Meeting today.

Hishammuddin Hussein

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 has reopened the industrial sector, allowed interstate travel, reopened schools and institutions of higher learning, as well as implemented a tourism bubble.

The gradual reopening of the country’s borders was also one of the important aspects in the transition to the endemic phase, he added.

On a separate matter, Hishammuddin said the defence ministry (Mindef) is prepared to cooperate with the various committees set up to investigate corruption, among others, following the low rating the country received in an international index on corruption in the defence sector.

He said that the government, even during Pakatan Harapan’s time, had set up various committees to tackle issues related to leakages, corruption and abuse of power.

“Mindef is ready to cooperate fully with them to seek justice and truth,” he said.

He was commenting on the D rating received by the country after recording a score of 45% for the Government Defence Integrity Index (GDI) 2020 released by Transparency International today.

According to the Transparency International Defence and Security website, based on data collected from August 2019 to June 2021, Malaysia is assessed to have a high risk of corruption in its defence sector.

Commenting further, Hishammuddin explained that he had answered many issues related to the matter before.

“I understand that the D rating for GDI was just announced this morning and what they announced was based on a study they conducted last year.

“I have only been leading Mindef for three months, so I will see what is contained in this report,” he said. - FMT