The zonal system would allow people to only travel between districts within the same zones.
However, Masidi, who is also the state’s Covid-19 spokesman, said the reinstatement would depend on the condition that 60% of the state’s adult population has been fully vaccinated.
He added the districts within each zone must also achieve the same vaccination rate for their adult population.
“Districts that have yet to reach the 60% rate will not qualify to be part of the zonal travel system,” he said.
Sabah has six zones for inter-district travel. They are: Zone 1 – Kota Kinabalu, Kota Belud, Ranau, Tuaran, Penampang, Putatan and Papar; Zone 2 – Beaufort, Kuala Penyu and Sipitang; Zone 3 – Kudat, Kota Marudu and Pitas; Zone 4 – Sandakan, Beluran, Kinabatangan and Tongod; Zone 5 – Tawau, Semporna, Lahad Datu, Kunak and Kalabakan; Zone 6 – Keningau, Tambunan and Tenom.
As of yesterday, Sabah had fully vaccinated 59.1% of its adult population, while 71.1% of the adult population has received at least one shot of the vaccine.
The state government had previously implemented the zonal system to allow people to travel between districts in their zones without the need for police permits, among others. It has been suspended since May following a rise in Covid-19 infections.
Meanwhile, Masidi said the last 30-day daily infection data showed that there was a downward trend in new cases in the state.
However, he pointed out that, according to initial projections, the authorities were expecting the numbers to go up again after test results for suspected sporadic cases come back.
He said it was hard to predict whether there would be infection spikes or drops in the coming days.
“This is because the biggest variable is how far the community is observing SOPs,” he said.
For instance, he said, the percentage of sporadic cases, which are usually associated with failure to observe the SOPs, remained high in some districts such as in Lahad Datu, Sandakan, Tawau, Kota Belud and Kota Marudu, among others.
Sabah recorded 965 cases in the last 24 hours, which was an increase of 215 compared to the previous day.
CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST DATA ON THE COVID-19 SITUATION IN MALAYSIA