Hanoi (VNA) – Many foreign news agencies covered the teleconferenced 36th ASEAN Summit chaired by Vietnam on June 26, highlighting COVID-19 as one of itsfocuses.

Notably, AP reportedthat the event aimed to show unity and discuss a regional emergency fund torespond to the immense crisis brought by the coronavirus pandemic.

The news agency said theASEAN leaders talked online due to regional travel restrictions and health risksthat delayed dozens of meetings and shut out the ceremonial sessions, grouphandshakes and photo-ops that have been the trademark of the 10-nation bloc’sannual summits.

Despite this, Vietnam stillorganised a colorful opening ceremony with traditional songs and dances inHanoi for about 200 Vietnamese officials and foreign diplomats. They showed upwithout masks and sat close to each other while the heads of state watchedremotely on their screens, the article wrote.

AP also citedVietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc as saying that the COVID-19 pandemicis a test for ASEAN, and it is fanning the flame of dormant challenges in thepolitical, economic and social environment and helping escalate frictions amongmajor powers.

Southeast Asian nations havebeen impacted by the pandemic differently, with hard-hit Indonesia grapplingwith more than 50,000 infections and more than 2,600 deaths, and the tiny stateof Laos reporting just 19 cases. The diverse region of 650 million people,however, has been an Asian COVID-19 hot spot, with a combined total of morethan 138,000 confirmed cases that have well surpassed those of China, where theoutbreak started.

The economic toll has beenharsh, with ASEAN’s leading economies, including Singapore, Indonesia, Thailandand Malaysia, facing one of their most severe recessions in decades, accordingto the news agency.

AP notedthat a high-priority project was the establishment of an ASEAN COVID-19response fund which could be used to help member states purchase medicalsupplies and protective suits. A regional stockpile of medical supplies hasalso been approved./.