The Malaysian Insight

DINE-INS will be allowed for individuals who have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 in states that have entered the second and subsequent phases of the national recovery plan from Tuesday, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said today.

Individuals who have received the Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca and Sinovac vaccines are considered as being fully immunised against Covid-19, 14 days after the second dose.

As for recipients of single-dose vaccines such as CanSino and Johnson and Johnson, they will be considered as fully immunised 28 days after vaccination.

Apart from dine-ins, inter-district travel, tourism activities within the state and sporting activities that do not involve group settings will also be allowed for fully vaccinated individuals in states in the second and subsequent phases of the plan.

Currently, the Klang Valley, Johor, Negri Sembilan, Kedah and Malacca are in phase one while other states have moved on to phases two and three.

Perlis, Sarawak and Labuan are in the third phase.

Muhyiddin said compared to other social activities, dine-ins carry a higher risk as masks have to be taken off while eating and when talking to the person at the same table.

This exposes the individual to the risk of Covid-19 infection, he said.

He advised Malaysians to get takeaways if they could and choose premises that have good ventilation.

Premises owners are required to ascertain that customers have been fully vaccinated by checking their vaccination digital certificate. Food outlet operators were also advised to set up more seats outdoors.

Fully vaccinated couples who take their children aged below 17 to dine in at restaurants will also have to ensure that the child is compliant with the standard operating procedure (SOP).

Other SOP eased for fully vaccinated individuals in states in phase two and beyond are:

• inter-district travel;
• tourism activities within state boundaries including hotel stay and homestay;
• outdoor sporting and recreational activities that do not involve a group setting or physical contact. This includes jogging, exercise, tai chi, cycling, skateboarding, fishing, golf, hiking, motorsports and others.

Muhyiddin said that certain restrictions will also be relaxed for fully vaccinated individuals across all phases. These include:

• citizens, permanent residents and those under the Malaysia My Second Home Programme who are entering Malaysia from overseas and have a home here will be allowed to undergo home quarantine;
• married couples who are in a long-distance relationship will be able to cross district and state lines to meet their partner;
• parents who have been fully inoculated will be allowed to travel beyond state and district lines to meet their children aged below 18;
• surau, mosques and non-Muslim houses of worship will be allowed to accept fully vaccinated individuals. However, they must ensure that tight is are observed.

He said the easing of the restrictions will come into effect on Tuesday.

As for easing of restrictions for the economic sector, Muhyiddin said the announcement will be made once the matter is discussed at the National Security Council meeting.

“These perks do not mean we can neglect the SOP enforced,” he said.

“The government will not hesitate to retract the perks given if the guidelines and the SOP enforced are breached,” he warned.

Muhyiddin also reminded ministries, agencies involved and premise owners to take full responsibility in ensuring that the rules and the guidelines are adhered to in order to prevent a mishap.

He said the fight to contain the virus requires the collective effort of everyone, adding that enforcement agencies will also continue monitoring activities.

The plan, which was announced on June 15, is the government’s exit strategy from the pandemic.

The four-phased recovery plan entails:

• Phase one of movement-control order;
• Phase two, which begins when the average number of new Covid-19 infections fall below 4,000;
• Phase three, when the average number of new Covid-19 infections falls below 2,000 per day.

Phase four can begin after Covid-19 cases are less than 500 daily, and at least 60% of the population is vaccinated.

However, recovery plan Coordinating Minister Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz said yesterday that the new indicator, which is the daily symptomatic Covid-19 hospitalisation – will replace the existing benchmark of the number of new Covid-19 cases.

This will only be effective after a state’s vaccination rate reaches at least 50% of its adult population.

Figures for the new indicator of symptomatic hospital admissions will be applied according to the following ratio per population when used for states, or the total number of new symptomatic cases reported nationwide in a day when evaluating the situation for the whole country:

– Moving from phase one to phase two: Daily hospital admissions of symptomatic cases at 6.1 per 100,000 population, or 2,000 new symptomatic admissions nationwide of such cases.

– Phase two to phase three: 3.0 per 100,000 population; or 1,000 new symptomatic admissions nationwide.

– Phase three to phase four: 1.3 per 100,000; or 400 new symptomatic admissions nationwide. – August 8, 2021.