The health authorities of North Korea have reported this Saturday 21 new covid deaths and ones 174,000 new positives after declaring the “maximum alert” for a first outbreak of coronavirus in the country Almost two and a half years after the start of the pandemic Worldwide. Leader Kim Jong Un describes the current health crisis as “the major ordeal since the founding of the country.” The country, which this Friday reported its first six deaths, rejected the vaccines offered by the WHO.
Kim Jong Un has pointed out in a emergency meeting this Saturday that the country is facing “great turmoil” as more than 520,000 citizens They have suffered “fever symptoms” since the end of April, as reported by the specialized portal NK News. The state agency has also reported that 230,000 have recovered.
Closures and quarantines
Likewise, Kim has indicated that “the fever” is spreading throughout the whole countryalthough it has not spread “so uncontrollable between the regions”, for which he has called for a rigorous application of the regional closures and quarantines.
Also, as collected
Kim Jong Un has established “maximum” response measures against covid after the omicron coronavirus variant was detected this Sunday in the capital of the Asian country. “Thanks to the high political awareness of the people, the country will surely overcome the emergency,” he said.
International aid
At the moment, several countries such as South Korea, China and Russia have offered their help to the country to deal with the outbreak, although the american government has ruled out immediate assistance plans for the time being.
This very Friday, the Russian Government has said it is willing to send help in case this is “requested”, as reported by the Interfax news agency. The Russian Embassy in Pyongyang has indicated that there is such a provision, although it has ruled out that North Korea has asked for any kind of help for the time being.
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The vice-spokesperson of the General Secretariat of the UN, Farhan Hakhas specified that they are monitoring “with concern” the outbreak in the country, although for the moment “they have not received formal communications about it.”
“We remain in contact with North Korean representatives on this matter. The UN remains committed and we stand ready together with our humanitarian partners to help people in need in North Korea on COVID and other issues,” he said.
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Eddie is an Australian news reporter with over 9 years in the industry and has published on Forbes and tech crunch.