Here are all the four phases in case you forgot:
With the current movement control order (MCO) set to end next week, many Malaysians are wondering if that would mean that we will now move to Phase 2 of the recovery plan.
Well, the answer is no.
Not so fast, boys and girls!
Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin reminded Malaysians on Thursday (24 June) to not wrongly assume that the country will move on to Phase 2 on 28 June, Malay Mail reported.He clarified that when Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin laid out the terms for the recovery plan, he did not specifically mention 28 June as the 'target' date for the transition.
Many Malaysian made the assumption because 28 June was the day the extension of the MCO was supposed to end, Khairy said.
"There was no target to move from phase one to two at the end of June. The assumption was because that’s the end of the extension of the MCO.
"But when the prime minister announced the National Recovery Plan, he didn’t say 28 June from phase one to two. He said sometime in July, and at least my target, which is 10 per cent full vaccination, it’s middle of July, so that is in line with what he announced.
"The assumption that it is 28 June is because that is when the current MCO ends, but the announcement of the National Recovery Plan overrides that," Khairy was quoted as saying.
So, to summarise: 28 June is when the current MCO 3.0 was supposed to end, but now that the Prime Minister had announced the National Recovery Plan, we can safely assume that the MCO will be extended until we move into Phase 2.
A lot of factors to consider
On Tuesday (22 June), PM Muhyiddin told The Edge Markets that the government will assess the full situation before deciding when Phase 2 will begin.Muhyiddin said that there are a lot of factors to consider, including the actual COVID-19 situation in the country and intervention methods, before the goverment can decide.
Although the government had set certain targets like dates and periods, vaccination milestones, usage of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds and most importantly, number of daily cases, Muhyiddin said that the actual situation changes constantly."It (National Recovery Plan) has what we call threshold values … but we have to understand that the situation changes and that is why we may make slight adjustments.
"This will be decided at the National Security Council (MKN) meeting which I chair to assess the situation," he was quoted as saying, adding that the government will continue to monitor closely the COVID-19 situation in the country before making a big decision.
We guess we'll just have to wait for now.