North Korea acknowledges the first outbreak of the disease

SEOUL, May 12, 2022 (AFP) – North Korea on Thursday (Wednesday 11, Brasilia time) acknowledged the country’s first outbreak of the COVID-19 virus since the start of the epidemic, which state media declared a “serious incident of a national emergency.”

The official Korean Central News Agency said samples collected from several fever patients in Pyongyang on Sunday were “consistent” with the highly contagious Omicron type virus. Corona Virus.

According to the agency, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said at an emergency meeting of his political cabinet that he will implement a “maximum emergency” regime to control the virus with the aim of “eradicating the roots in the shortest possible time.”

“He assured us that given the high level of political awareness of the population (…) we will safely overcome the emergency and succeed in the emergency quarantine plan,” he added.

The Korean Central News Agency reported that Kim ordered stricter border controls and containment measures, urging his citizens to “completely contain the spread of the insidious virus by carefully closing his area in all cities and counties across the country.”

He added that all business and production activities will be organized so that each unit is “isolated” to avoid infection.

The poor, nuclear-armed nation imposed an external lockdown in early 2020 to protect itself from the pandemic, which has caused economic problems and crippled trade.

Since the beginning of the epidemic, North Korea has not confirmed any cases of the coronavirus.

According to the World Health Organization, the country had conducted 13,259 tests for covid-19 by the end of 2020, all with negative results.

Analysts say North Korea’s faltering healthcare system will struggle to deal with the coronavirus outbreak.