Laos bolsters COVID-19 prevention ahead of regional summits
The Lao government is taking precautions against the acute respiratory disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) to ensure the safety of regional leaders scheduled to visit Laos for upcoming summits, reported Vientiane Times newspaper.
Passengers undergo temperature checks at a border gate in Laos (Photo: VNA)
Vientiane (VNA) – The Laogovernment is taking precautions against the acute respiratory disease causedby SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) to ensure the safety of regional leaders scheduled tovisit Laos for upcoming summits, reported Vientiane Times newspaper.
Laos is scheduled to host four regionalsummits at the end of March, including the 3rd Mekong-Lancang CooperationSummit; the Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy(ACMECS); the 10th Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam (CLMV) summit; and the11th Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam (CLV) Summit.
Speaking at a press conference at theMinistry of Health on February 26, Lao Deputy Health Minister Assoc. Prof. Dr PhouthoneMoungpak said a taskforce had been formed to take charge of disease preventionand control, working on a detailed plan for special prevention measures duringthe summits.
Lao health authorities have now imposedquarantine measures on visitors from all epidemic countries, rather than justthose arriving from China as before, Assoc. Prof. Dr Phouthone said.
People travelling from outbreak zones willbe quarantined and followed up for a period of 14 days.
Health authorities have told tour operatorsto suspend package tours to cities where the outbreak has been reported,notably those in the Republic of Korea (RoK), after the rapid spread of thevirus there.
Laos, which has no confirmed COVID-19 caseso far, earlier this month successfully hosted the Special ASEAN-China ForeignMinisters’ Meeting on measures to control COVID-19 outbreak, and the 5thMekong-Lancang Cooperation (MLC) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting./.
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Passengers undergo temperature checks at a border gate in Laos (Photo: VNA) 
