North Korea has confirmed its first case of COVID-19 and has declared a “major national emergency.” Leader Kim Jong-un promised “remove” the virus, state media reported Thursday.
The samples taken from patients sick with fever were “consistent with” the Omicron variant highly transmissible form of the virus, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.
North Korea had claimed to be COVID-free to date, but experts had doubts about the claim as all of its neighboring countries, especially China, have been severely affected by the pandemic.
The country’s borders were sealed in January 2020.
“North Korea’s claim of a perfect record in keeping the virus at bay for two and a half years has been widely questioned. But he was believed to have prevented a major outbreak until now, in part because he instituted strict virus controls almost from the start of the PANDEMIC.”
Fever of unidentified origin since April
“A fever whose cause could not be identified spread explosively nationwide since the end of April and more than 350,000 people caught a fever in a short period of time and at least 162,200 of them were completely cured. Only on May 12, some 18,000 people with fever occurred nationwide and to date up to 187,800 people are being isolated and treated, “the official media reported.
Currently, some 187,800 people are being treated in isolation after that a fever of unidentified origin has “spread explosively throughout the country” since the end of April.
One death due to Omicron’s BA.2 subvariant
According to the latest update from official KCNA media, six people have died, among whom one tested positive for Omicron’s BA.2 subvariant.
According to KCNA reports, samples taken from infected people are similar to the variant Omicron of the coronavirus, which caused the third massive wave of COVID in India and many countries.
However, there isn’t a report available about how many cases covid are currently active in the country.
Emphasizing the need to deal with the situation, Kim Jong Un has ordered the public health and emergency epidemic prevention sectors to “Thoroughly observe the characteristics of the course of diseases of people with fever, establish scientific treatment methods and tactics instantly.” As well as further strengthening state measures for the supply of medicines,” the KCNA said.
It has “criticized that the simultaneous spread of the fever with the capital area as the center shows that there is a vulnerable point in the epidemic prevention system that we have already established,” the KCNA said.