Malaysia sets out criteria for safe reopening

Kuala Lumpur (VNA) – Malaysian Senior Minister of Defence Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said on November 16 that a total of seven components need to be met before the country can enter the endemic phase, or reopen safely towards living with COVID-19.

He said this comprised having one standard operating procedure (SOP) 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, he added.

The transition to the endemic phase would be done simultaneously across the country, based on international components, including those set by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the official noted.

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 Four of the National Recovery Plan (PPN).

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