When I briefed you three weeks ago, I stressed that the pandemic is far from over in Asia and the Pacific. This is going to be a long battle.
The virus is now in 22 countries and areas in our Region. Some have limited health care capacity, and others—such as Japan—are experiencing an increasing number of COVID-19 cases.
This is not the time to relax. Instead, we need to ready ourselves for a new way of living for the foreseeable future. As Dr Huong mentioned, over 5,600 people have lost their lives among more than 130,000 with confirmed COVID-19 infection in our Region.
I once worked in an ER. And I know that these are more than just numbers. Countless others have lost their jobs and means of supporting themselves and their