It is unclear how many infections have been detected, but the state news agency KCNA reported on Thursday that cases of the Omicron variant have been found in the capital, Pyongyang.
Samples collected from a group of people suffering from fever on May 8 gave positive results for the highly contagious version of Omicron, KCNA reported.
The outbreak of Covid-19 could be terrible for North Korea. The deteriorating health infrastructure in the country is unlikely to cope with the task of treating a large number of patients with highly infectious diseases.
North Korea has not previously recognized any cases of coronavirus, although few believe that a country of about 25 million people has been spared a virus that has infected millions around the world.
On Thursday, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered blocking measures in all cities and led the distribution of medical supplies stored by the party in the event of a Covid emergency, according to KCNA.
Kim is also chairing a meeting of the country’s powerful Politburo, which has agreed to implement “maximum” emergency anti-epidemic measures, although it is unclear what they include.
According to the KCNA, the Politburo criticized the country’s anti-epidemic sector for “carelessness, negligence, irresponsibility and incompetence”, saying it had “failed to react sensitively” to the growing number of Covid-19 cases around the world, including in neighboring regions.
Kim said the country would overcome the “unexpected outbreak of Covid-19”, KCNA reported.
To date, North Korea has managed to prevent a major outbreak of Covid-19 cases thanks to a series of draconian public health measures.
North Korea’s borders have been sealed since January 2020 to keep the virus at bay, despite the impact on trade with Beijing, an economic lifeline that the poor country needs to protect its people from starvation.
It is not known that isolated and poor North Korea has imported coronavirus vaccines, although it qualifies for the Covid-19 global vaccine sharing program, Covax. Covax reportedly reduced the number of doses given to North Korea in February as the country failed to arrange any shipments, according to Reuters.
Also in February, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in North Korea Thomas Ohea Quintana called on the international community to provide North Korea with “60 million doses of vaccine to cover at least two injections from the entire population.”
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