KUALA LUMPUR, July 5 — The government has agreed for Penang to move into Phase Two of the Movement Control under the National Recovery Plan (PPN) effective from Wednesday (July 7), said Senior Minister (Security) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

He said the special meeting of the National Security Council (MKN), chaired by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin today had reviewed a presentation on transitions for states under the PPN by taking into account the threshold values of the states.

According to him, the decision to allow Penang to move into the next phase was made after it achieved the three main threshold value indicators, with the average number of daily cases recording 9.5 cases out of 100,000 people for seven days, which is below the threshold value of 12.2 cases out of 100,000.

Apart from that, the rate of bed usage in the intensive care units (ICU) was at a moderate level and the assessment of “Capacity to Respond” was at an adequate level, while 10.1 per cent of the adult population had received the second dose of the vaccine jab, which is above the threshold value of 10.0 per cent.

“Based on these three indicators and the detailed evaluation of the agencies, including the Ministry of Health (MOH), the government has agreed to implement the transition to the next phase for Penang, effective July 7,” he said in a statement on the PPN and enhanced movement control order (EMCO) today. 

Ismail Sabri also advised states which have successfully moved to Phase Two to continue with efforts to protect the community from COVID-19 infection and to boost their performances so that they could proceed to subsequent phases to help expedite the recovery process for their economic and social sectors.

On July 3, Ismail Sabri announced that Perlis, Kelantan, Perak, Pahang and Terengganu would transition to Phase Two effective today.

Meanwhile, he said the MKN had decided that all types of merchandise in grocery, convenience stores, supermarkets and mini markets could be sold to customers during the PPN period.

“This is due to the confusion among owners of premises who closed some of their sections and did not sell their goods to customers,” he said.

Besides that, he said eateries under Phase One and Phase Two of the Movement Control under the PPN could operate from 6am to 10am but those under the EMCO areas, including in the sub-districts of Selangor and several localities in Kuala Lumpur, could only operate from 8am to 8pm. 

Apart from that, Ismail Sabri said the government allowed residents in the EMCO areas to go out to get their vaccine jabs, and that includes those who want to return to their villages to take their family members for the same purpose, even if it is outside the district or state.

He said they would only need to show the MySejahtera appointment to get police permission. However, only three people are allowed in a vehicle, including the driver, to go and get their vaccine jabs.

He said the MKN meeting also decided to allow the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) offices in the EMCO areas to operate from 9am-1 pm with a capacity of 60 per cent employee attendance to manage the distribution of government aid schemes.

“However, for smaller EPF offices, such as in rural areas, the number of employees is allowed at maximum capacity,” he said. — Bernama