As the state news agency KCNA reported on Saturday, the country’s ruling Labor Party held an emergency meeting. North Korea reported 21 more deaths on Saturday, but initially cited an unknown fever as the reason.
“If we don’t lose focus in implementing the epidemic policy and maintain strong organizing power and control based on the unity of the Party and the people, we can overcome the crisis,” Kim said.
According to the KCNA, a total of 27 people have died since the end of April, but the corona virus was only officially detected in one of the victims. At the party meeting, disease control officials reportedly pointed out that the majority of those who died appeared to have died from drug overdoses “due to a lack of knowledge about treatment methods,” the agency said.
According to KCNA, about 524,440 North Koreans have shown signs of fever since late April. At the moment, more than 280,000 people are receiving medical treatment for this reason. In view of the limited testing possibilities in North Korea, experts believe that the published figures only represent a small part of the total infections. As far as is known, the population in North Korea has not been vaccinated against the corona virus.
Ruler Kim Jong Un confirmed the outbreak of the infectious disease on Thursday and declared a state of emergency. According to KCNA, a subvariant of the highly contagious omicron pathogen was discovered in the capital Pyongyang. Kim ordered a nationwide lockdown. On Saturday, he explained that health authorities need to learn from the experiences of other countries such as China. Kim also offered to donate medicines from his private depot to families in dire need.
Source: Nachrichten
