KUALA LUMPUR: The government has decided to use the number of 'symptomatic hospital admission cases' as a new threshold indicator in the National Recovery Plan (NRP), said Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz.
This decision, he said, was made during a special National Security Council (NSC) and National Recovery Council (NRC) meeting chaired by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, and 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 NRC has also decided that the indicator will only replace the existing indicator (the number of new Covid-19 cases) in states still in Phase One, once at least 50 per cent of the adult population is fully vaccinated.
"The benchmark for symptomatic cases is based on daily hospital admissions for the total number of patient cases in Categories 3, 4, and 5," he said in a statement today.
Tengku Zafrul, who is also Finance Minister and NRP Coordinating Minister, said the nationwide threshold value for symptomatic hospital admissions to move from Phase 1 to 2 was 2,000, with a 6.1 symptomatic case daily average per 100,000 people.
To move from Phase 2 to 3, the threshold value is 1,000 symptomatic hospital admissions per day with a 3.0 symptomatic case daily average per 100,000 people.
Meanwhile, the threshold value to advance from Phase 3 to 4 is 400 symptomatic hospital admissions daily, with a 1.3 symptomatic case daily average.
He added that the assessment to transition from one phase to the next was still subject to all other indicators, including intensive care unit (ICU) capacity and the vaccination rate of the adult population.
"For example, for Klang Valley, Johor, Negri Sembilan, Kedah and Melaka which are still in Phase 1, once they achieve at least a 50 per cent full vaccination rate of the adult population, the case indicator in use will be the symptomatic hospital admissions.
"These states can only advance 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)."
He added that this 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 both Sarawak and Labuan had faced full ICU ward capacity in June, the utilisation reduced to an "adequate" level after vaccination rates reached 50 per cent in July, he said.
He said therefore, 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 two per cent of daily cases."
Tengku Zafrul said countries such as the United Kingdom 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.