COVID-19: North Korea adds 15 more deaths & nearly 3 lakh cases in last 24 hours

Nearly three days after North Korea acknowledged the COVID-19 outbreak, the country has reported confirmed 15 more deaths, taking the total casualties to 42 on Saturday. According to state media reports, North Korea has registered at least 8,20,620 cases in the last three days. According to the North’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), nearly 2,96,180 additional cases of the lethal virus reported in the past 24 hours. The major revelation of the outbreak came after an unspecified number of people who were suffering from fevers in the national capital, Pyongyang, was tested for the COVID-19 virus. Pyongyang's health ministry confirmed that the infected were suffering from the deadly Omicron variant. 

In response, the country's Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un called a Politburo meeting and announced a nationwide lockdown, starting from Thursday, May 12. According to the lockdown norms, workplaces should be isolated by units to block the virus from spreading. Also, the supreme leader urged health workers to step up disinfection efforts at workplaces and homes. It is worth mentioning that the Supreme leader on several occasions had bolstered the country's strict measures in dealing with the COVID virus. According to an earlier statement of the country's boss, he had managed to weed out the deadly pandemic from the country.

However, the 'philosophy' of the leader changed on Thursday as he insisted that the arrest of the virus is crucial and vowed his confidence in overcoming the outbreak. The leader said he believes his government and people are “united as one.” He called the health workers to disinfect marketplaces as soon as possible while maintaining paramount importance to inconveniences to the public.

Kim wears a mask for the first time after invoking an emergency in North Korea

It is worth mentioning that this was the first time when North Korea acknowledged the scale of virus transmission in the country since COVID-19 engulfed the planet. However, the actual figures were not immediately known. Also, it is believed that the leader has not implemented the proper vaccination module in the country, resulting in fear among the international health agencies. Some experts say North Korea, by its rare admission of an outbreak, maybe seeking outside aid. Also, for the first time, the North Korean leader and other senior officials were seen wearing masks as they entered a meeting room on Thursday. However, later in the meeting, Kim was seen unmasked and sitting at the head of a table where all other officials remained masked.

With inputs from AP

Image: AP/Unsplash