North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered all cities to be placed under curfew after the country for the first time reported a Covid-19 outbreak had been detected in Pyongyang on Thursday.
This indirectly shows the country is facing a major crisis amid a shortage of medical resources that have previously rejected international aid for vaccinations.
Calling it the ‘most serious national emergency’, the official KCNA news agency said samples taken on May 8 from individuals in Pyongyang who had a fever showed symptoms of the Omicron variant.
However, the report did not disclose the number of cases infected or possible sources of infection.
Kim Jong Un reportedly held a meeting on Thursday and ordered a strict curfew across the country and mobilized emergency reserve medical supplies.
According to the KCNA, the country’s epidemic prevention efforts will be shifted to a maximum emergency epidemic prevention system.
The Kim Jong Un administration has indeed long denied that there was a Covid-19 case in North Korea and the allegations are questioned by experts from the United States, Japan and most other countries.
Data from the World Health Organization (WHO) also shows no cases of Covid-19 have been reported in the country, and there is no official record that any North Korean has been vaccinated until March.
