Govt to decide on transition to endemic phase

KUALA LUMPUR: A briefing to decide the date for the transition to the endemic phase will be held next week during the Covid-19 quartet ministerial meeting.

Senior defence minister Hishammuddin Hussein said the briefing will be given by the health and foreign affairs ministries and other agencies.

“We postponed the transition before because we wanted to hear the reports on the effects of the floods, as well as the situation involving the Covid-19 Omicron variant and travellers returning to Malaysia, especially from Saudi Arabia, first.

“At the quartet ministerial meeting next week, we will listen to the briefing by the relevant ministries and agencies, and subsequently present it (the deliberations) to the special committee chaired by the prime minister, before the actual date for the transition to the endemic phase can be decided,” he told a press conference here today.

Hishammuddin said the decision to transition to the endemic phase would not be done in a hurry and the postponement of the transition may take two to three weeks from the original date, which was the first week of January.

Asked about the possibility of snap elections being called in Johor during the pandemic, the Sembrong MP said the health ministry’s advice must be sought before any decision was made.

He said the experience gained during the elections in Sabah, Melaka and Sarawak should serve as a lesson to ensure that the Johor elections would run safely and smoothly if they were called.

“It is not for me to decide, but if they want to call for state elections, then let’s make sure that they run smoothly and safely,” he said.

The Umno Supreme Council had recently given approval for the party machinery to prepare to face elections in Johor to obtain a stronger mandate.

The Barisan Nasional-led Johor government’s majority has been reduced to only one seat following the death of Kempas assemblyman Osman Sapian on Dec 21 last year. — Free Malaysia Today