North Korea has reported its first corona death, a day after the country first reported an outbreak. Five other deaths may have also had the disease, but that has not yet been confirmed.
State news agency KCNA reports that 350,000 people have been registered with symptoms in the country since April. 187,800 people are currently being treated in isolation.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited a command center to fight the outbreak last day. Images of him wearing a mask were also shown on television for the first time.
Strictly insulated
The country maintained for two years that there was not yet a single case of corona in the country, a claim that international experts considered unlikely. At the start of the pandemic, North Korea decided to isolate itself even further, by suspending border traffic and trade and ordering border guards to shoot those who did attempt the crossing.
It is unknown how the virus entered the country despite this. The country has since imposed a state of medical emergency. A national lockdown has also been declared.
It is unclear what that measure exactly entails: according to a reporter from the AP news agency, people could still be seen on the street today. It may be more difficult to travel between cities.
Foreign aid
South Korea has since offered medical assistance, also because the health care system in the neighboring country is deplorable. Beijing has also promised aid, such as the Chinese vaccine.
–
