It is said that there are many infected
For the first time since the start of the new coronavirus pandemic, North Korean media have published footage of President Kim Jong Un wearing a light blue medical mask, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported.
The North Korean official news agency KCNA announced today the first case of coronavirus in the country. On this occasion, a meeting of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the ruling Korean Labor Party was held, chaired by Kim Jong Un. All participants in the meeting wore masks, and the leader took off his during his speech. Footage from the beginning of the meeting was shown on national television.
“For the first time, state media have shown the chairman (of the DPRK State Council) wearing a mask during a public event. This shows how seriously the authorities take the coronavirus situation,” Yonhap said.
At the meeting, the North Korean leader ordered the blockade of all cities and counties. According to him, the task of the authorities is to eliminate the virus as soon as possible, prevent its spread and ensure prompt treatment of those infected.
The meeting criticized officials in the sector for combating epidemics of “irresponsibility and incompetence”, stressing the need to put the health system in a mode of “maximum emergency quarantine”.
On Sunday, authorities in the capital, Pyongyang, analyzed samples taken from patients with fever and concluded that the samples were identical to those of Omicron’s BA.2 sub-variant.
The CCTA did not specify the number of cases identified. However, according to Yonhap, there are many infected.
Kim Jong Un ordered a full lockdown in North Korea
Pyongyang has announced the first cases of coronavirus infection
North Korean authorities have reported the first cases of coronavirus infection in the country, the South Korean agency Yonhap reported, citing North Korean media.
Cases of Omicron variant infection have been identified in Pyongyang. Samples were taken from residents of the city with symptoms of COVID-19 on May 8.
Subsequently, a “maximum emergency” regime was introduced throughout the country and a lockdown was declared. Exactly how many people were infected has not been released, the BBC reported.
The leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Kim Jong Un, has promised to overcome the “unexpected crisis”, according to the Korean Central Telegraph Agency (CCTA). For this purpose, a strict quarantine system is introduced.
“In all districts and cities of the country, block your region and reliably close the way for the spread of the malicious virus. We will overcome the sudden crisis and we will definitely win, “Kim Jong Un said at a meeting of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Korean Workers’ Party.
Kim Jong Un has also ordered tighter controls on the country’s borders.
The Supreme Leader “assured us that thanks to the high political awareness of the population, we will certainly overcome the emergency situation and succeed with the emergency quarantine project,” the CCTA added.
So far, North Korean authorities have said no cases of coronavirus infection have been reported in the country during the pandemic. According to them, the complete closure of the borders has helped prevent the virus from entering the country. It is not known what measures were in place in the DPRK.
Pyongyang even refused to supply the vaccine under the international Covax mechanism, and the drugs were distributed to other countries.
Experts doubted that North Korea had managed to prevent the virus from entering the country.
