Participants Of The ASEAN 2023 Summit Must Have A Complete COVID-19 Vaccine

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) requires that all delegates from the 42nd ASEAN 2023 Summit in Labuan Bajo, East Nusa Tenggara, have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 doses.

"Before leaving, they must be fully vaccinated for delegates and registration of One Healthy for delegates," said Deputy Minister of Health Dante Saksono Harbuwono as quoted by ANTARA, Friday, May 5.

He said health screening also applies at the airport entrance through checking body temperature by related officers.

"If the temperature is more than 37.5 degrees Celsius, for delegates, RT-PCR is carried out. VIPs are carried out with the necessary treatment procedures," he said.

Another requirement related to health protocols is the obligation of all delegates to fill out digital forms on the OneSehat application which can be downloaded via smartphone.

"One Health is only required for delegates, not for the leadership of the delegation," he said.

The use of One Healthy so that all vaccine certificates for ASEAN Summit participants can be verified to ensure that case transmission does not occur during the activity.

The Ministry of Health has imposed an antigen test requirement for foreign travelers with a validity period of 1x24 hours, and a PCR test a maximum of 3x24 hours from departure from their home country.

The Ministry of Health also applies recommendations to wear masks in the room that apply to all participants at the ASEAN Summit.

"Before returning home, we are also provided with facilities for the country concerned to carry out the regulatory needs of the destination country," he said.

He added that the Ministry of Health cooperated with a number of private hospitals and the local government placed 40 swab officers.

"It is provided for COVID-19 checks to reach more than 1,200 tests per day. We provide 40 swab officers whose places have been divided in several important locations," he said.

Several aspects that are important for procedures for handling COVID-19 have been prepared for delegates, including antigen tests for all hotel employees.

"Starting May 6, 2023, an antigen examination will be applied for 1x24 hours for hotel employees and they have been isolated and have not returned to their respective homes to ensure that services at hotels remain in safe protocol," said Dante Saksono Harbuwono.

The peak of the 42nd ASEAN Summit is scheduled to take place from 9 to 11 May 2023.

The series of activities began with the arrival of delegates to Labuan Bajo on May 6, 2023.

On May 7 to 8, 2023, the meeting of delegates and Senior Officer Meetings at the Meruorah Komodo Hotel, which became the venue for this year's ASEAN Summit.

On May 9, 2023, the agenda for the arrival of state leaders in the ASEAN region in Labuan Bajo was opened, totaling 13 state leaders.

The ASEAN summit peak agenda only started on May 10-11, 2023 at the Meruorah Hotel and continued with dinner and press conferences.