The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned about the coming of the third wave of Covid-19 pandemic.  Several countries have suffered from the third wave of the pandemic such as Malaysia and Japan. In Indonesia, there are already indications of an increasing number of positive cases nowadays.

In anticipating the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, SEAMEO BIOTROP and its Covid-19 Task Force held a talkshow titled “Talkshow and Discussion on Elevating Awareness on the Health of Employees and Their Families” on 25 November 2021.  The talkshow was carried out using offline and online platforms, with a  total of 150 participants enthusiastically attending this event. Prior to the talkshow, SEAMEO BIOTROP carried out a free antigen swab test for the Centre’s employees.

The Director of SEAMEO BIOTROP, Dr Zulhamsyah Imran, in his opening remarks, stated that it is important for us to be vigilant in preventing the third wave of Covid-19 from attacking us personally, our families, and our country. The prevention efforts of SEAMEO BIOTROP are in line with the Ministerial Instructions of the Ministry of Home Affairs No. 53 of the Year 2021 about the Enforcement of Restrictions on Community Activities Level 3, Level 2, and Level 1 for Covid-19 Prevention in Java and Bali.

This event featured three outstanding resource persons who are professional specialist physicians in pulmonary and internal medical diseases, i.e., dr Andika Chandra Putra, PhD, SpP (Specialist of Pulmonologist and Respiratory Medicine), dr Nerina Mayakartifa, MSc, SpPD FINASIM of the UMMI Hospital Bogor (Specialis of Internal Medicine), and Prof dr Taruna Ikrar, MD, MBiomed, PhD (Physician and Biomedical scientist; the Director of IAMRA (International Association of Medical Regulatory Authorities; and the Chairman of the Indonesian Medical Council (Ketua Konsil Kedokteran Indonesia/KKI)). (sis).