February 25, 2020
Health authorities say medical staff have examined Chinese nationals working for construction companies in Laos to see whether they show symptoms of the coronavirus.
Director General of the Department of Communicable Disease Control under the Ministry of Health, Dr Rattanaxay Phetsavanh, spoke at a recent press conference about efforts to prevent the spread of the virus into Laos.
He said all the employees of Chinese construction companies had received health checks under orders from the ministry and no cases of infection had been detected. Workers on the China-Laos railway were among those tested.
The ministry is working on long- and short term prevention in addition to making plans to treat people who may become infected with the Covid-19 virus.
Health checks are also being administered to all workers travelling to and from China and other neighbouring countries, Dr Rattanaxay said.
Health officials and volunteers are collecting information from target construction companies.
The ministry is also advising the general public to protect themselves against the virus by limiting contact with people suffering from acute respiratory infections.
Officials are strengthening preparedness for and response to the Covid-19 virus, he added.
He noted that Laos has a well-established system to identify unusual clusters of disease or illness and this is being strengthened to ensure it is capable of detecting anything unusual.
Even though no case of the coronavirus has been reported in Laos, the government urges everyone to be on their guard and take precautions such as distancing themselves from people with coughs.
As of Sunday, the accumulated number of coronavirus infections was at least 77,000 and 2,474 patients had been discharged from hospitals after recovering, while more than 2,000 people have now died, according to the China Daily. If you have any flu-like symptoms and have travelled to an outbreak area, please contact health workers upon entry into Laos.
If you have been to an outbreak area and develop symptoms after entering Laos, please call +856 20 5406 6777 to speak to a duty officer in Lao or English, at any time of the day or night.
For more information, call the free hotline number 166 at any time.