North Korea has for the first time officially confirmed an outbreak of Covid-19, with state media reporting that a sub-variant of the highly portable Omicron virus known as BA.2 has been discovered in Pyongyang.
“There was the biggest emergency incident in the country, with a hole in our front for emergency quarantine, which was safely guarded for the last two years and three months since February 2020,” state media reported.
The report says people in Pyongyang became infected with the Omicron variant without providing details on the number of cases or possible sources of infection.
The report was published when North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un chaired a meeting of the Workers’ Party to discuss responses to the first coronavirus outbreak.
During the meeting, Kim reportedly called on officials to stabilize the transmission and eliminate the source of the infection as soon as possible.
Earlier, North Korea set a perfect record in protecting Covid-19 from its territory. It has closed its borders to almost every trade and visitor for two years, further shocking the economy, which has already been damaged by decades of mismanagement and crippling US-led sanctions over its nuclear weapons and missile program.
With Reuters and the Associated Press
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