JOHOR BARU: Tunku Mahkota Johor Tunku Ismail Ibni Sultan Ibrahim expresses his confidence that the state will soon progress to Phase Two of the National Recovery Plan (NRP) very soon.
“Following my discussions with the state Health Department, Johor Special Covid-19 Task Force and also Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin, I am confident that this matter will be announced soon,” he said in a Facebook post on Monday (Sept 20).
Presently, Johor and Kedah still remain under Phase One of the NRP while other states have since moved to Phase Two and Three.
Labuan is the only locality under Phase Four.
On Friday (Sept 17), Tunku Ismail chaired the first meeting of the Johor Special Covid-19 Task Force, which was attended by Mentri Besar Datuk Hasni Mohammad, state Health and Environment Committee chairman R. Vidyananthan, state secretary Datuk Azmi Rohani, deputy state secretary (management) Datuk Mohd Noh Ibrahim, state health director Datuk Dr Aman Rabu, as well as health and pandemic management experts.
Tunku Ismail said Johor needs to be prepared for the transition from a pandemic to an endemic phase.
"I am confident that the selected members of the task force will be able to fight the pandemic more effectively.
"Through effective public health measures and the use of the latest technology, I am optimistic that Covid-19 cases will start to drop," he said.
He said members of the task force comprised government agencies, experts from universities, private sectors, armed forces and non-governmental organisations in Johor.
Tunku Ismail added that the task force would monitor and improve the present system to screen, isolate, monitor and treat Covid-19 patients.
"This is to ensure that the pandemic is always under control.
"Contact tracing needs to be accelerated so that it is done within 24 to 48 hours, and the vaccination rate must also be increased," he said.
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