On 5th November 2021, the Ministry of Health together with the European Union (EU) and WHO held a half-day media briefing in Vientiane Capital. The purpose of this briefing was to provide timely COVID-19 information to local journalists on the current COVID-19 situation, explained the conditions that must be met for re-opening of the country, updates on vaccination coverage and activities, and call for media to share these information with the public to mitigate the current surge in cases as we see record increases in daily case numbers since the beginning of November.
The meeting was chaired by Mr Visith Khamleusa, Director of Centre of Communication and Education for Health (CCEH) with invited speakers from the Department of Communicable Disease Control (DCDC), National Center of Laboratory and Epidemiology (NCLE) and Mother and Child Health Center (MCHC).
Due to the COVID-19 restrictions, the meeting uses a hybrid format with virtual and in person participation, keeping in line with the government rule that less than 20 people can gather at any one time, to reduce the risk of large cluster of COVID-19 outbreak from the event.
Media briefings are held once every two months for local media to get firsthand information from the Ministry of Health, and these briefings are supported by the EU, under the South East Asia Health Pandemic Response and Preparedness Project, in partnership with the Ministry of Health, and the World Health Organization.
Local journalists play an important role to disseminate timely and accurate messages to the general public. Many people are concerned with the reopening of the country for social and economic reasons, this can be implemented when more people are vaccinated and are able to practise protective measures in various high-risk settings, to protect themselves and their families.