Symptomatic hospital admission cases to be threshold indicator in National Recovery Plan, says Tengku Zafrul

KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 8): The government will be using the daily number of ‘symptomatic hospital admission cases’ in Category 3, 4 and 5 as a new threshold indicator, according to Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz.

The daily number of ‘symptomatic hospital admission cases’ will replace the daily number of confirmed Covid-19 cases as the indicator, when more than half of the adult population in the states that are in the National Recovery Plan (NRP) Phase One are fully inoculated. 

The Klang Valley, Johor, Negeri Sembilan, Kedah and Melaka are the states still in Phase One currently, while others have moved into Phase two with more relaxed movement control order.

As of Friday (Aug 6), 6.14 million people or 99.6% have received at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine, including 2.94 million or 47.7% who are fully inoculated in Klang Valley.

Tengku Zafrul said the assessment to transition from Phase One to the next phases was still subject to all other indicators, including intensive care unit (ICU) capacity utilisation rate and the vaccination rate of the adult population.

These states can only move to Phase 2 if they achieve a threshold value of symptomatic hospital admissions (6.1 per 100,000 people) and the ICU usage capacity (moderate), the minister said in a statement.

Tengku Zafrul said the decision was made during a special session of the National Security Council and the National Recovery Council chaired by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin last week.

“This decision was based on advice from health experts, as well as international and domestic experience, with the observation that the Covid-19 transmission risk decreased with increased vaccination of the adult population.

"The National Recovery Council has also decided that the indicator will only replace the existing indicator (the number of new Covid-19 cases), once at least 50% of the adult population in several states in Phase One is fully vaccinated,” said Tengku Zafrul, who is also Coordinating Minister of NRP.

According to him, the benchmark for symptomatic cases used is based on daily hospital admissions for the total number of patient cases in Categories 3, 4 and 5.

To move from Phase One to Phase Two of NRP, the nationwide threshold value must be 2,000 symptomatic daily cases, with a 6.1 cases daily average per 10,000 population.

For a transition from Phase Two to Phase Three, the nationwide threshold value of symptomatic daily cases must be 1,000 (three cases per 100,000 population).

Meanwhile, the threshold to advance from Phase Three to Phase Four is 400 symptomatic hospital admissions daily (1.3 cases per 100,000 population).

He pointed out that the decision was also taken after risk of transmission was found to be under control in Sarawak and Labuan, with a significant reduction in symptomatic cases and those requiring treatment in ICU wards.

“Although Sarawak and Labuan had faced full ICU ward capacity in June, but after vaccination rates reached 50% [for both states] in July, the utilisation of ICU ward capacity reduced to an ‘adequate’ level,” said Tengku Zafrul.

Therefore, he said, the risk assessment to consider the reopening of economic and social activities would be more accurate, if it was based on the number of symptomatic cases in Categories 3, 4 and 5, than if referring to the number of new cases daily.

"For example, although new daily cases in Sarawak reach 400 a day, the number of new patients in Categories 3, 4 and 5 is less than 10 patients or 2% of daily cases,” according to him. 

Tengku Zafrul pointed out that countries such as the UK also focused on the number of symptomatic cases and had allowed the reopening of economic and social activities based on its risk evaluation.

"Since the announcement of the NRP, the government has emphasised that the NRP must be dynamic in nature, where all approaches taken are based on data and science. This includes the setting of indicators and threshold values for phase transitions.

"The usage of these new indicator values will be able to improve risk assessment in considering the opening of economic and social activities in the context of NRP phase transitions," he added.

Get the latest news @ www.EdgeProp.my

Subscribe to our Telegram channel for the latest stories and updates 

Click here for more property stories