According to a report, North Korea has ordered a five-day lockdown for the capital Pyongyang because of "respiratory diseases". As the South Korean news website "NK News" reported on Wednesday, citing a government announcement, residents of the North Korean capital were ordered to stay at home from Wednesday to Sunday. According to the report, they also have to have their body temperature measured several times a day.

According to "NK News", the official announcement did not mention the corona virus, instead it spoke of common colds. Just the day before, "NK News" reported, citing sources in Pyongyang, that people in North Korea's capital were apparently stocking up on goods in anticipation of a lockdown.

North Korea sealed off its borders at the beginning of 2020 after the start of the pandemic to protect itself from the corona virus. Last April, the country confirmed the first corona outbreak. Just three months later, North Korea declared the virus defeated.

The World Health Organization and other experts strongly question the North Korean corona statistics and the information on containing the pandemic. According to experts, the country has one of the worst health systems in the world. Experts assume that nobody in the country has been vaccinated against the corona virus.