Seoul: North Korea On Saturday, 21 new deaths and 174,440 more people with fever symptoms were reported, as the country scrambles to slow the spread of Covid-19 among its unvaccinated population.
New deaths and cases, which were up from Friday, rose to 27 deaths and 524,440 illnesses amid the rapid spread since late April. north Korea said that 243,630 people have been cured and 280,810 people are in quarantine. State media did not specify how many fever cases and deaths were confirmed as Covid-19 infections.
The country imposed a nationwide lockdown on Thursday after its first Covid-19 cases were confirmed since the start of the pandemic. It was previously held for more than two years by the widely dubious claim of a perfect record for keeping out the virus, which has spread almost everywhere in the world.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un During a meeting on anti-virus strategies on Saturday, he described the outbreak as a historically “huge disruption” and called for unity between the government and the people to stabilize the outbreak as soon as possible.
Kim expressed optimism that the country can bring the outbreak under control, adding that most transmissions are occurring within communities that are isolated from each other and are not spreading from region to region. The country has implemented strong preventive measures aimed at restricting supplies and movement of people between cities and counties since Thursday, but details of the move by state media indicate people are not confined to their homes.
Experts say North Korea’s failure to control the spread of COVID-19 could have disastrous consequences given the country’s poor health care system and its 26 million people largely unvaccinated.
Testing of virus samples collected on Sunday from an unspecified number of people with fever in the country’s capital Pyongyang confirmed they were infected with the Omicron variant, state media said. The country has so far officially confirmed one death from an Omicron infection.
Experts say lacking vaccines, antiviral pills, intensive care units and other key health equipment to fight the virus, North Korea’s pandemic response will be mostly about isolating people in designated shelters.
North Korea doesn’t have the technical and other resources to enforce an extreme lockdown like China, which has shut down entire cities and confined residents to their homes, nor does it further shock a fragile economy. Can afford to do so at the risk of removing it. Hong Min, Seoul analyst Korea Institute for National Integration,
Even as he called for stronger preventive measures to slow the spread of COVID-19, Kim also stressed that the country’s economic goals must be met, Which means huge groups will continue to gather at agricultural, industrial and construction sites.
It is unusual for isolated North Korea to acknowledge an outbreak of any infectious disease, let alone one as dangerous as COVID-19, because of its excessive pride and outside perception about its self-described “socialist utopia”. is sensitive. But experts are mixed on whether the North’s announcement of the outbreak communicates a desire to get outside help.
The country had discarded millions of doses offered by the United Nations-backed COVAX delivery program, possibly because of concerns over international monitoring requirements associated with those shots.
North Korea has a greater tolerance of civilian suffering than most other countries, and some experts say the country accepts a certain level of death to gain immunity through infection rather than receive vaccines and other external aid. may be ready to.
South Korea’s new conservative government, led by President Eun Suk Yeol, who took office on Tuesday, has offered to send vaccines and other medical supplies to North Korea on humanitarian grounds, but Seoul officials say the North has so far failed to help. No request has been made for
The viral spread could have accelerated after thousands of civilians and soldiers gathered for a massive military parade in Pyongyang on April 25, where Kim took center stage and displayed the most powerful missiles of his military nuclear program.
After maintaining one of the world’s strictest border closures for two years to salvage its deteriorating health care system, North Korea reopened rail freight traffic with China in February apparently to help its To reduce stress on the economy. But China last month confirmed the closure of the route as it battled the Covid-19 outbreak in the border areas.
New deaths and cases, which were up from Friday, rose to 27 deaths and 524,440 illnesses amid the rapid spread since late April. north Korea said that 243,630 people have been cured and 280,810 people are in quarantine. State media did not specify how many fever cases and deaths were confirmed as Covid-19 infections.
The country imposed a nationwide lockdown on Thursday after its first Covid-19 cases were confirmed since the start of the pandemic. It was previously held for more than two years by the widely dubious claim of a perfect record for keeping out the virus, which has spread almost everywhere in the world.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un During a meeting on anti-virus strategies on Saturday, he described the outbreak as a historically “huge disruption” and called for unity between the government and the people to stabilize the outbreak as soon as possible.
Kim expressed optimism that the country can bring the outbreak under control, adding that most transmissions are occurring within communities that are isolated from each other and are not spreading from region to region. The country has implemented strong preventive measures aimed at restricting supplies and movement of people between cities and counties since Thursday, but details of the move by state media indicate people are not confined to their homes.
Experts say North Korea’s failure to control the spread of COVID-19 could have disastrous consequences given the country’s poor health care system and its 26 million people largely unvaccinated.
Testing of virus samples collected on Sunday from an unspecified number of people with fever in the country’s capital Pyongyang confirmed they were infected with the Omicron variant, state media said. The country has so far officially confirmed one death from an Omicron infection.
Experts say lacking vaccines, antiviral pills, intensive care units and other key health equipment to fight the virus, North Korea’s pandemic response will be mostly about isolating people in designated shelters.
North Korea doesn’t have the technical and other resources to enforce an extreme lockdown like China, which has shut down entire cities and confined residents to their homes, nor does it further shock a fragile economy. Can afford to do so at the risk of removing it. Hong Min, Seoul analyst Korea Institute for National Integration,
Even as he called for stronger preventive measures to slow the spread of COVID-19, Kim also stressed that the country’s economic goals must be met, Which means huge groups will continue to gather at agricultural, industrial and construction sites.
It is unusual for isolated North Korea to acknowledge an outbreak of any infectious disease, let alone one as dangerous as COVID-19, because of its excessive pride and outside perception about its self-described “socialist utopia”. is sensitive. But experts are mixed on whether the North’s announcement of the outbreak communicates a desire to get outside help.
The country had discarded millions of doses offered by the United Nations-backed COVAX delivery program, possibly because of concerns over international monitoring requirements associated with those shots.
North Korea has a greater tolerance of civilian suffering than most other countries, and some experts say the country accepts a certain level of death to gain immunity through infection rather than receive vaccines and other external aid. may be ready to.
South Korea’s new conservative government, led by President Eun Suk Yeol, who took office on Tuesday, has offered to send vaccines and other medical supplies to North Korea on humanitarian grounds, but Seoul officials say the North has so far failed to help. No request has been made for
The viral spread could have accelerated after thousands of civilians and soldiers gathered for a massive military parade in Pyongyang on April 25, where Kim took center stage and displayed the most powerful missiles of his military nuclear program.
After maintaining one of the world’s strictest border closures for two years to salvage its deteriorating health care system, North Korea reopened rail freight traffic with China in February apparently to help its To reduce stress on the economy. But China last month confirmed the closure of the route as it battled the Covid-19 outbreak in the border areas.