North Korea now faces a huge threat of Covid-19 after announcing the first death from the outbreak with the potential to record 350,000 cases nationwide.
The official KCNA news agency on Friday reported six deaths were recorded a day after confirming that the Covid-19 outbreak had finally arrived in the country.
To date, a total of 187,800 people are being isolated and treated after an unidentified ‘fever’ spread in the country since late April.
About 350,000 people have shown signs of fever including 18,000 who just reported such symptoms on Tuesday alone, according to the KCNA, adding that 162,200 of them are being treated so far.
However, the news agency did not specify how many had tested positive for Covid-19.
The first confirmation of deaths from a pandemic in North Korea was made after the regime said it was imposing maximum emergency measures to deal with the outbreak in the capital, Pyongyang.
Experts believe none, or very few of the country’s 26 million people have been vaccinated and there are growing concerns that the outbreak will ‘ruin’ North Korea’s health services.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said Beijing had offered assistance to North Korea to deal with the outbreak.
The United States, however, has no immediate plans to share the Covid-19 vaccine with North Korea, according to White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Thursday.
