On Tuesday (15 June), Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced the National Recovery Plan to handle the COVID-19 situation in the country and asked Malaysians to be patient.

There are four stages to the plan, decided based on "data and science", and here is what we can expect between now and the end of the year.

Phase 1 (June)

Phase 1 is where we're at now (i.e. full lockdown). It started on 1 June 2021 and has been extended after the initial two-week announcement to end of June.

In this phase, only essential businesses are allowed to operate, no social or religious activities are allowed and workplaces that are allowed to operate can only operate at 60 per cent capacity.

Phase 2 (July to August)

National Recovery Plan

The government will consider moving to the next phase when the number of COVID-19 cases dips below 4,000, the healthcare system is no longer in a critical state and the number of ICU cases are at a moderate level, and 10 per cent of the population has received two doses of vaccines.

In this phase, economic activities will be allowed gradually with workplaces operating at 80 per cent capacity. Social activities and state border crossings will still not be allowed.

Phase 3 (September - October)



The transition to this phase will happen if the number of cases goes below 2,000, sufficient ICU beds are available and 40 per cent of the population is vaccinated.

In this phase, all economic activities will be allowed to resume except those with high risk of COVID-19 infectivity possibilites. Operations capacity will be limited to 80 per cent but leeway will be given to workplaces where the staff is fully vaccinated. Social activities including education and sports will be allowed to reopen in stages.

Parliament is also expected to reopened during this phase - possibly in September or October.

Phase 4 (October)


Phase 4 will start when the cases go below 500, the healthcare system is healthy including having enough ICU beds and 60 per cent of the population is vaccinated. This phase is projected to be reached by the end of October.

All economic sectors will reopen in this phase, most social activities will be allowed, state crossing will be allowed and domestic holidays with strict SOPs will also resume.



While the prime minister announced all the phases that we will be seeing in the next few months, there were no announcement of any kind of new financial assistance for those who will not be able to work.

At this point, all we have is hope so let's hope for the best.

Don't forget to stay home, follow the usual SOPs when you're out, double mask if you can, register for vaccination and do all we can as a society to beat this virus.