hanoi at the special virtual summit of the association of southeast asian nations asean on tuesday leaders of the 10 member states affirmed that the blocs current leading priority was controlling the covid19 pandemic and preventing it from spreading furtherthe 10 asean members namely brunei cambodia indonesia laos malaysia myanmar the philippines singapore thailand and vietnam and the asean secretarygeneral agreed that the countries should join hands with one another and with other nations to prevent the global pandemic from spreading further with focus on preventing crossborder infections reports xinhua news ahencucoronavirus lockdown latest updatesthe leaders also stated that the asean should pay due attention to taking measures to minimize the socioeconomic impacts of covid19the countries should forge closer coordination in protecting their citizens providing social security services as well as economic stimulus and aid packages and maintaining supply chains to protect people and assist small and mediumsized enterprisesthe asean leaders also touched upon mapping out plans to recover the economy in the postpandemic period including stepping up intrablock trade speeding up negotiations and then finalizing economic cooperation deals implementing economic stimulus packages and enhancing the capability of coping with external shocksmore on covid19 coronavirus pandemic complete coverage coronavirus what are the symptoms 52 testing sites for coronavirus in india helpline numbers for states and uts do fever and cough mean you need covid19 test how to stay safe how to quarantine yourself at homewhen the summit the first of its kind held by the asean via videoconference wrapped up they adopted the declaration of the special asean summit on covid19 showing their political commitment about solidarity and cooperation within the regional grouping as well as with its partnersthe leaders affirmed that solidarity and cooperation is the strength which will help the nations win the war against the covid19 pandemicthe virtual special asean plus three summit on covid19 took place on tuesday afternoon with the participation of the state or government heads of the 10 asean members china japan and south korea the asean secretarygeneral and the world health organization directorgeneralthey are expected to adopt a joint statement on covid19 response after sharing relevant practical experiences and discussing potential cooperation among asean countries as well as between the block and its three dialogue partners especially cooperation on preventing and containing the global pandemicthe two summits are taking place at a time when covid19 continues to strike many countries around the world including asean nations posing a grave threat to human health and safety while fueling worries about its huge impact on economy regionally and globally