Covid-19: in North Korea, 15 new deaths from “fever”

Fifteen new deaths from "fever" were recorded in North Korea on Sunday.

Covid-19: in North Korea, 15 new deaths from “fever”

Fifteen new deaths from "fever" were recorded in North Korea on Sunday. This report comes three days after the official announcement of the very first case of Covid-19 in the country, says the official KCNA agency. According to her, a total of 42 people died, while 820,620 cases of "fever" were reported, of which at least 324,550 required medical treatment.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un admitted on Saturday that a "malignant disease" has caused "great upheaval" in the country. “All provinces, cities and counties across the country have been completely locked down, and workplaces, production centers and residences have been isolated from each other,” KCNA reported.

Read alsoFirst official cases of Covid-19 in North Korea: containment and many questions

Although it has urgently activated its quarantine system in order to stem the spread of the disease among the 25 million inhabitants, none of whom are vaccinated, the country reports a large number of new cases every day.

A nuclear test to divert attention

Pyongyang, the capital, announced on Thursday that people have tested positive for Omicron's BA.2 subvariant. She also mentioned a first death. Kim Jong Un immediately ordered containment measures.

North Korea, which was one of the first countries in the world to close its borders in January 2020 after Covid-19 emerged in neighboring China, has long boasted of its ability to keep the virus at bay. . It had not previously reported any confirmed cases to the WHO (World Health Organization). Pyongyang having rejected vaccination offers from the WHO, China and Russia. In recent days, Beijing, the Chinese capital, and Seoul, that of South Korea, have offered vaccines and their help.

The country's health system, one of the worst in the world (it was ranked 193rd out of 195 by a survey by the American University Johns Hopkins), lacks essential drugs and equipment. According to KCNA, Kim Jong Un said the country will "actively learn lessons" from China's pandemic strategy of large-scale lockdowns and ruthlessly tracing and isolating all positive cases.

KCNA did not say whether the new cases and deaths recorded tested positive for Covid-19, but experts believe the country is unable to carry out a large-scale testing campaign. According to some analysts, leader Kim may be accelerating his weapons testing program to divert people's attention from the epidemic situation. The United States and South Korea recently claimed that Pyongyang is preparing to resume its nuclear tests, which have been suspended since 2017. Satellite images indicated that the regime has restarted construction of a reactor at its main nuclear facility.


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