Date to transition into endemic phase determined next week

KUALA LUMPUR: The official date for Malaysia’s transition into the endemic phase will be determined next week during the Covid-19 Quartet Meeting.

Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said the delay was estimated to last for only two to three weeks based on current events.

He said reports on the impact of the floods, the Omicron variant and the effects of travellers returning to Malaysia will be presented in the meeting.

“The Health Ministry, Foreign Ministry and other relevant parties will present the data and impact to the Covid-19 Pandemic Management Special Committee chaired by the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

“He (Ismail Sabri) will decide when will be the official date we begin the transition into the endemic phase.

“The delay is only temporary. It is important that we simply jump into it without facts and data,” he said during a press conference after the Defence Minister Mandate Ceremony at the ministry today.

Hishammuddin said the transition date was supposed to be made during the first week of January.

However, he said the government was forced to press pause on the plans following an increase of the Omicron variant as well as the impact of those returning from overseas as well as the flood disaster that happened recently.

He added that the government was actually ready to declare the transition into the endemic phase because each state had already entered phase four.