The country reports an explosive spread of a mysterious fever. It suggests that the reason for this is the spread of the coronavirus. There are first fatalities.
North Korea has reported a first death in the country after being infected with the corona virus. Since the end of April, six people have died with a fever that has spread explosively across the country for reasons that are still unclear, the state media reported on Friday.
The omicron subvariant BA.2 was found in one of the victims. Only the day before, the isolated and authoritarian country had officially confirmed infections with the pathogen for the first time since the beginning of the corona pandemic more than two years ago. The undetermined number of cases therefore occurred in Pyongyang.
More than 350,000 people reportedly developed the fever of unknown origin within a short period of time. In over 162,000 of them it had completely subsided. However, almost 188,000 patients in quarantine would still be treated. It was initially unclear how many were actually infected with the corona virus.
Inadequate health care system
According to observers, the numbers indicated the potential extent of the corona outbreak in the country. Experts had long warned that North Korea would find it difficult to deal with a major outbreak due to its inadequate health system. North Korea itself spoke of the “most serious emergency of the state”.
North Korea’s ruler Kim Jong Un ordered a nationwide lockdown on Thursday. All cities and counties should be in strict lockdown. How people are cared for during a curfew was considered unclear. According to UN organizations, large parts of the population in the country with its almost 26 million inhabitants are malnourished.
During a visit to the state epidemic prevention center, Kim complained that there was a “vulnerable point” in the existing emergency prevention system, state media reported. Kim was quoted as saying that every work and production facility as well as all living units would have to be isolated from one another. He expressed confidence that the responsible authorities could eliminate the “sources of the spread of the malicious epidemic”.
The communist leadership had closed the country’s borders early on because of the pandemic, which also had a strong impact on trade with China. In January this year, China initially confirmed that it would resume freight traffic with its neighboring country. At the end of April, however, cross-border iron freight traffic was suspended again after new cases of infection in the Chinese border city of Dandong.
Source: Stern
David William is a talented author who has made a name for himself in the world of writing. He is a professional author who writes on a wide range of topics, from general interest to opinion news. David is currently working as a writer at 24 hours worlds where he brings his unique perspective and in-depth research to his articles, making them both informative and engaging.
