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● Khamlar HOUNGHUEANG (pseudonym), 60 years old, Lao, medical staff
● There is still a social distancing policy. Entertainment places are still closed.
● COVID-19 patients are allowed to stay at home instead of coming to the hospital.
● His family got the third shot of the COVID-19 vaccine, which makes them feel better about the situation.
● Disease control work has become more systematic this year.
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● Kikeo (pseudonym), 73 years old, Lao, a pensioner
● Wearing a mask is still a requirement. Last year, the government did not allow
religious and social gatherings. At some point, students did not go to school.
● None of his family members were infected with COVID-19.
● He feels better about the situation this year than the previous year because of the
vaccine and being used to the preventive measures.
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● Monk Somchai (pseudonym), 45 years old, Lao, a Buddhist monk, a teacher at a monk school
● There was a strict travel restriction last year, which has been eased this year.
● His temple was affected by the spread of the Delta and Omicron variant because the monks decided to close the temple and did not go out to receive food offerings from
people.
● He considers monks public people, who meet with many different people regularly, so
it is their responsibility to have the vaccine.
● The temple also helps the community by distributing donated supplies to the villagers in need
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● Boon SEEHA (pseudonym), 26 years old, Lao, a government employee
● Festivals were prohibited and entertainment businesses were not allowed.
● He was infected with the Delta variant from work.
● He was upset because people feared that he would spread COVID-19 to them even after he recovered from it.
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● Manida MIXAY (pseudonym) has just been back from Thailand where she worked in construction.
● She was infected with Covid-19 in Thailand.
● She was interviewed through a mobile phone before leaving the quarantine center and going back to her village in Laos.
● She thinks that people in her village will still not come to interact with her family even after she recovers.
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● Somjit VORLASARN (pseudonym) is 36 years old.
● He worked in Thailand before in the construction industry and was about to be discharged from the quarantine center in Laos at the time of the interview. He also describes his experiences at the quarantine center.
● He is a farmer in Laos and relates that it is now more inconvenient for farmers like himself who need to travel to farms in another place as prior permission is needed from the village head.
● His family in the village in Laos was affected by the news of his wife being infected with Covid-19 and were shunned at the marketplace.
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● Buathong LUANGLATH (pseudonym) is 23 years old from the Lao Theung group in Laos.
● He was a freelancer doing different jobs, but now he does not have a job.
● Before, he worked as a guide which depends on tourists and has been severely affected by Covid-19. He also worked as an English tutor, but the tuition centre had to close as students were afraid of going to classes.
• He does not feel too worried about Covid-19, believing that understanding the disease and knowing what one needs to do is key to overcoming fear.
• He was suspected of having Covid-19 by his neighbours and had to see a doctor to set their minds at ease. He does not think that this is discrimination (unlike discrimination on the basis of skin colour), considering it a right to want to protect one’s self.
• He stresses the importance of reliable news reports and the need to write sensitively to avoid negative impacts on readers’ mental health.
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● Jaikham SOUNTHONE (pseudonym) is 28 years old living in Southern Laos.
● As a doctor, her work has increased due to Covid-19.
● Sometimes she also works at the quarantine center in her area.
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● Khamlar HOUNGHUEANG (pseudonym) is 58 years old living in Southern Laos.
● As a medical officer, he does not work from home.
● He is involved in training medical staff to deal with the pandemics.
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● Khamlar KEOMANY (pseudonym) is an elderly individual aged 60 years old. He is Lao.
● He is a farmer.
● He first learned about Covid-19 from social media.
● As an assistant to the village head, he helps his villagers by spreading news and informing them to follow the measures.
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SYNOPSIS
● Bounyuen THONGXAY (pseudonym) is an elderly 65-year-old Lao woman.
● She is a pensioner. Her information about Covid-19 came from various sources from radio to social media like Facebook.
● At first she was worried, but later she learned about how it can infect people and knows that it is preventable.
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● Boun VONGDUEN (pseudonym) is an elderly individual aged 75 years old.
● She learned about Covid-19 from her children.
● She is a widow and stays at home to take care of her grandchildren.
● She is very worried about her children because they were working in the outbreak area.
● Her village brought her hand sanitizer and she wears a mask when going to the market.
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● Kham (pseudonym), 35 years old, Lao
● The interviewee is a staff member at an ICU (doctor). She goes to work as usual. There is no lockdown measure.
● She goes to work as usual, wears a mask, and practices social distancing.
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● Monk Somchai (pseudonym), a Buddhist monk, 43 years old, Lao
● Lockdown for two months
● Compulsory mask wearing
● Every year, an overnight New Year praying ceremony, a meditation retreat and a summer novice ordination ceremony are held, but because of Covid-19, these events have not been held.
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● Kikeo (pseudonym), 73 years old, Lao, Lao
● Lockdown for two months
● Compulsory mask wearing
● Only goes to the market once per week now, compared to going there every day before
