Pandemics

Laos is shuttering small checkpoints on its borders with Vietnam and Cambodia as part of a bid to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus into the country, where authorities have yet to announce a positive case of the disease caused by the virus (COVID-19). The ...

Two Lao nationals living in Vientiane have been infected with coronavirus (COVID-19) after their tests, released at about 9 pm on March 23, were shown to be positive, a task force announced yesterday. The 36-year-old female tour guide and the 28-year-old male worker from Crowne Plaza ...

Update: Two Myanmar men have tested positive for COVID-19 in the country: a 26-year-old Myanmar citizen who had returned from the UK and a 36-year-old US green card holder who returned from the US, according to a statement from the Ministry of Health and Sports (MOHS). The ...

While being on the right track, the government’s latest response to the new coronavirus (Covid-19) by closing schools and entertainment venues, as well as putting off the Songkran break, is likely to prove too little, too late, once again. As other countries have shown, the ...

As coronavirus infections spike across South-east Asia, Myanmar and Laos have conspicuously logged zero patients – despite the fact that both share a sizeable border with China, where the outbreak originated. Both countries say all the people suspected of being infected with the coronavirus have tested negative so far. ...

Although Myanmar remained one of the rare countries without confirmed cases of COVID-19 on March 13, the national economy has not been immune to the impact of the coronavirus since it emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan late last year. In Myanmar, thousands of workers ...

Laos is still free from the coronavirus even though the deadly Covid-19 has now spread to some 79 countries, Deputy Minister of Health, Associate Prof. Dr Phouthone Muongpak, told foreign diplomats yesterday. The ministry, in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, held a meeting to ...

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha issued 14 urgent measures today (March 3) to handle the Covid-19 situation, government spokesperson Narumon Pinyosinwat said. They are: 1. State agencies must strictly enforce the Public Health Ministry’s measures and guidelines on the outbreak and, if need be, can also issue ...

IN 2019, more than 1.3 million people in Southeast Asia were infected with dengue fever. The cyclical epidemic was exacerbated by poor state health infrastructure and constraints on access, as well as climate change and the increased movement of goods and people. In this context, and ...

Officials at Suvarnabhumi Airport say they are awaiting more information from Chinese authorities before deciding whether to expand screening of passengers arriving from China to try to detect the new coronavirus that is causing worldwide concern. China, meanwhile, announced late Saturday that all group tours from ...