North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has called the country’s first outbreak of Covid-19 a “major disaster” as he reported 21 more deaths.
State media reported that 174,440 people were recently found with symptoms of fever on Friday alone as the country struggled to slow the spread of Covid-19 among its unvaccinated population.
North Korea said on Saturday that a total of 27 people had died and 524,440 had fallen ill amid the rapid spread of fever since late April. It says 280,810 people remain in quarantine.
The state media did not specify how many of the fever and deaths were confirmed as Covid-19 cases.
During a meeting on anti-virus strategies on Saturday, Kim described the epidemic as a “huge disruption” and called for unity between the government and the people to stabilize the outbreak as soon as possible.
The meeting discussed “timely distribution of emergency medicines” and the introduction of “scientific treatment tactics and treatment methods for various patients, including those with a special constitution,” KCNA reported.
Kim said he had “faith that we can overcome this malignant infectious disease in the shortest possible time,” the report added.
The country imposed a nationwide blockade on Thursday after confirming its first Covid-19 infections since the start of the pandemic.
Kim said they would follow China’s model of virus prevention.
“We need to learn from the experience and fruitful achievements in preventing the virus of the Chinese Communist Party and its people,” he said.
State media reported that tests of virus samples collected on Sunday from an unspecified number of people with fever in the country’s capital, Pyongyang, confirmed that they were infected with the Omicron variant. So far, the country has officially confirmed a death related to Omicron infection.
Experts say the failure to control the spread of Covid could have devastating consequences for North Korea, given the country’s poor health system and that its 26 million people are largely unvaccinated.
North Korea has so far avoided proposals for vaccines against Covid from China and Russia and through the World Health Organization’s Covax scheme, apparently because the injections would require external monitoring.
Leif-Eric Izley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul, said public recognition of the coronavirus regime meant “the public health situation must be serious.”
With Reuters, the Associated Press and AFP
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