WE, the Health Ministers of ASEAN Member States, representing Brunei Darussalam, the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Republic of Indonesia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, the Republic of the Philippines, the Republic of Singapore, the Kingdom of Thailand and the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, and the Health Ministers of the People’s Republic of China, Japan and the Republic of Korea, discussed and agreed on 7 April 2020 through a special video conference the ways forward in enhancing preparedness, prevention, detection and response to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic.
RECOGNISING the rapidly-evolving outbreak of COVID-19 which was declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) on 30 January 2020 as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC);