KUALA TERENGGANU, Sept 4 — Terengganu is unable to transition to Phase Three of the National Recovery Plan (PPN) because its usage of beds in the intensive care unit (ICU) is still high and exceeds the stipulated conditions.
Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar said the use of ICU beds to treat COVID-19 patients was currently at 60 per cent whilst the condition set by the government to shift to the next phase was about 50 per cent.
“Our (Terengganu) shortcoming now is the high usage of beds in the ICU to accommodate the number of COVID-19 patients, which is why it is not yet possible to move to the next phase. So, the use of ICU beds must be less than 50 per cent,” he told reporters after launching the Bersama Mu Welfare Mission at the Buluh Gading State Assembly Civic Hall here, today.
However, he said, based on the vaccination rate, Terengganu had exceeded the condition set as, so far, 84 per cent of the adult population had received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine while 51 per cent of the adult population had been fully vaccinated.
On July 5, Terengganu, Perlis, Perak, Pahang and Kelantan moved into Phase Two of the PPN after achieving the three threshold value indicators set, namely the daily COVID-19 cases, the ICU capacity and 10 per cent of the population having been fully vaccinated.
In another development, Ahmad Samsuri said the regeneration of the people’s economy to shift to the COVID-19 endemic phase would become the focus of the state government in drafting the content of the 2022 Budget.
He said that, to date, the state government was still seeking views and proposals from various quarters including the people, non-governmental organisations and professional groups for input on the budget.
“And we will choose which priorities will be included in the budget which will be tabled later,” he added.
