.jpeg "A general view of Jalan Tun Razak in Johor Baru. Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, the road caters to Singaporeans coming into the city via JB Sentral. u00e2u20acu201d Picture by Ben Tan")
JOHOR BARU, July 5 — The Johor Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition asked the government to allow the state to move to the second phase of the National Recovery Plan (NRP) as it has a low Covid-19 infectivity rate.
In a joint statement, Pakatan said a July 3 report showed the southern state recording an R-naught value of 0.92 — making it the fourth lowest state in Malaysia.
“We agree with the view that the lockdown formula alone will not yield positive results for the people.
“Excessive lockdown periods will lead to more severe mental health crises including an increased risk of life-threatening incidents such as suicide,” read the statement that was jointly signed by the deputy state chiefs of three parties under Johor PH today.
The three are Johor Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) deputy chief Dzulkefly Ahmad, his PKR counterpart Jimmy Puah Wee Tse, and DAP counterpart Teo Nie Ching.
At the same time, Johor PH also urged the Johor government to immediately implement the additional initiatives as announced by Mentri Besar Datuk Hasni Mohammad through the Ihsan Johor 3.0 Economic Stimulus Package where a total of RM40 million has been allocated for the purchase of vaccines in collaboration with the Kumpulan Perubatan Johor (KPJ).
“This is very important for Johor to achieve the herd immunity at an immediate rate,” said the statement.
