TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search results
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search resultsHow will ASEAN leaders approach COVID-19?
As the leaders of Southeast Asian nations prepare for the virtual 36th ASEAN Summit on Friday, we ask three key questions on their varying responses to the regional COVID-19 pandemic.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Set as preferred source
W
ith its member states at different stages in their COVID-19 responses, a coordinated regional response will likely be top-of-mind as the nations' leaders prepare to convene virtually for the 36th ASEAN Summit on Friday.
Indonesia last week surpassed Singapore as the ASEAN nation with the highest cumulative total of confirmed cases, as its daily tally continues to hover around 1,000 new cases. Meanwhile, other ASEAN states like Vietnam, Brunei and Laos have all reported zero cases over the past few weeks.
Grouping nations with diverse governing systems and cultures, ASEAN has been strongly criticized for being too slow in responding to the pandemic, even though some sectors began discussing regional cooperation very early on.
How has ASEAN and individual states responded to COVID-19?
ASEAN began discussing collaborative action immediately after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 outbreak a “public health emergency of international concern” on Jan. 30.
It also activated various existing regional mechanisms, such as the Regional Public Health Laboratories Network (PHLN) and the ASEAN Emergency Operations Center Network (EOC Network). These public health emergency mechanisms were installed as a result of past lessons learned, including the 2003 SARS outbreak that plagued the region.
