Covid-19: North Korea announces first death and national spread

Published on: 05/13/2022 – 02:29 The official North Korean news agency said on Friday that the Covid-19, the first cases of which were reported on Thursday, had its first death and spread ” in all the countries”. None of the 25 million inhabitants is vaccinated against the virus. North Korea announced Friday, May 13 its first death from Covid-19, stating that more than 187,000 people with fever were “isolated and treated” and that the virus had already spread “throughout the country”. The official KCNA news agency said leader Kim Jong-un visited the National Epidemic Prevention Headquarters and “learned about the spread of Covid-19 throughout the country”. A fever whose cause could not be identified spread explosively throughout the country from the end of April,” she said. Six people with “fever” have died in the country, including one who tested positive for Omicron’s BA.2 sub-variant, she said. This reclusive country reported its very first cases of Covid on Thursday, declaring that North Korea is moving into ‘maximum emergency epidemic prevention’ mode.” On May 12 alone, some 18,000 people had a fever across the country and currently 187,800 people are isolated and treated”, according to the same source. No inhabitant vaccinated None of the 25 million inhabitants is vaccinated against the coronavirus, Pyongyang having rejected offers of vaccination from WHO, China and Russia. Thursday , Kim Jong-un had chaired an emergency politburo meeting on the epidemic situation and ordered containment measures to try to stem the spread of the virus. “This is the most important challenge and the most important task. important that our Party must face to quickly reverse this crisis situation s health,” KCNA added. North Korea has long boasted of its ability to keep the virus at bay, and had not reported a single confirmed case of Covid-19 to the World Health Organization. Covid may have already spread across the country, analysts say, including major events in April in Pyongyang, including a military parade in which neither participants nor spectators wore masks. With AFP