North Korea reports first corona death and 188,000 ‘mysterious’ fever cases NOW

In North Korea, the corona virus has claimed its first death, a day after it land reported a corona infection within its borders for the first time. The cause of death of five other people who died with a fever is under investigation, state news agency says KCNA.

Also, 187,800 people would be treated in isolation for a fever “the cause of which could not be determined”. This according to KCNA mysterious fever has been circulating in the country since late April and has already infected some 350,000 people. About half of them have now been cured, according to KCNA. It is not known whether these people have been tested for corona.

Kim Jong-un declares national lockdown

Since the start of the pandemic, North Korea has maintained that corona was not in the country, something that has been widely doubted. However, on Thursday it was officially announced that someone in the capital Pyongyang had the highly contagious omikron subvariant BA.2. had been detected. Immediately afterwards, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un announced a national lockdown.

North Korea never wanted to adopt corona vaccines from abroad. In 2020, the country announced that it was working on its own vaccine, but nothing has been heard since. The World Health Organization (WHO) is in contact with the government and is helping to draft an action plan, it said Friday (local time). Neighboring South Korea also wants to provide humanitarian aid.

–