BEIJING. North Korea confirmed its first-ever case of Covid-19 and declared a “serious national emergency”, with leader Kim Jong-un promising to “eliminate” the virus in a dramatic meeting despite the measure draconian to close the borders since the start of the pandemic in 2020.
Samples taken from sick patients with fever in the capital Pyongyang were “consistent with the highly transmissible Omicron variant,” reported the KCNA. Senior officials, including leader Kim Jong Un, held an emergency meeting of the Politburo to discuss the best actions against the crisis by announcing the strengthening of the control system towards “maximum emergency”. Kim said in the meeting that “the goal was to eliminate the root of the virus in the shortest period of time”, assuring that “we will certainly overcome the difficulties and win the emergency quarantine project”.
The leader has ordered even stricter border controls and nationwide lockdowns, urging fellow citizens “to completely block the spread of the virus by completely blocking their areas in all cities and counties of the country”. All commercial and production activities will be organized in such a way that each work unit is “isolated” to prevent the spread of the disease.
To date, the North has always denied having had Covid cases, supporting a position questioned by experts from the US, South Korea, Japan and other countries, and has rejected vaccines from the outside world, even those already planned. of Covax, the program supported by the World Health Organization. From January 3, 2020 to May 11, 2022, the North had “zero confirmed cases of Covid-19 and zero deaths,” WHO said. In August 2020, North Korea said it was pursuing the development of a vaccine against the virus, without providing any other information.
Any outbreak of Covid-19 in the country could be potentially devastating due to an antiquated and non-existent health system in the most remote rural areas. North Korea is surrounded by countries that have fought or are still fighting the Omicron outbreaks, including China, South Korea and Russia. Seoul, which has high vaccination rates, recently eased nearly all restrictions with cases dropping after record highs in March. China, the only major world economy to still maintain a zero-Covid policy, is struggling against the worst crisis since that of Wuhan in early 2020.