(Eagle News) — The Ambassador of Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) in Manila, His Excellency Songkane Luangmuninthone, talks about the situation of Filipinos in his country, and how Lao PDR had managed to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus in this interview by ASEAN in Focus anchor Alma Angeles.
The Ambassador said that the virus lockdown in his country has already been lifted, and people can now go back to normal life.
Lao PDR has the fewest COVID-19 cases in the ASEAN region, at only 22, with not a single COVID death.
How Laos has managed to contain the spread of the virus is by closing bordercheckpoints and by implementing strict quarantine protocols, he said. Transportation for goods and international trade is, however, allowed.
“We are not totally locked down, we allow some opening,” he said, especially if this is related to trade and the economy.
The Ambassador said that the measures used to contain the spread of the virus in Lao PDR may be similar to the other countries, even similar to those employed in Philippines.
-Village monitoring-
“I think the most effective way for us is the village committee who monitors the incoming and outgoing of people,” he said.
Ambassador Luangmuninthone said that the village committee is similar to the barangay here in the Philippine setting.
The envoy explained that Lao PDR does not have a high health sector capacity. It is even lower than that in the Philippines, so that the Lao PDR’s government’s primary goal is not to prevent the cases from getting too high that they won’t be able to cope with the cases.
“We know from the beginning that our health sector capacity is too low compared to the Philippines. So we have to prevent (infection), instead of coping with the COVID when it is on already in the country because of the lack of capacity in our health sector,” he said.
The Ambassador said that early on, the Lao PDR government requested help from the international community.
Lao PDR also had a close cooperation with China, he said.
China is the first country to send a medical team to Lao, giving the people there information on how to cope with COVID patients.
Lao PDR also received some protective eequipment and medicines from China “so we can cope with COVID-19.”
Ambassador Luangmuninthone said that Lao PDR does not have digital monitoring.
“We have our monitoring from our village. That is the most important,” he said.
“COVID-19 changed the world. Hopefully, we can have the vaccine, the sooner the better,” the envoy said.
He also invited Filipinos to come to Lao PDR when the pandemic is over.
“We have many world heritage sites… You can enjoy nature in Laos… No visa needed. You need only your passport.”
(Eagle News Service)