In North Korea, the corona virus has claimed its first death, a day after the country first reported an infection within its borders. Cause of death of five others who died with fever is under investigation, state news agency says KCNAO†
Also, 187,800 people would be treated in isolation for a fever “the cause of which could not be determined”. This according to KCNAO mysterious fever has been circulating in the country since the end of April and has already infected some 350,000 people. About half of them have now been cured, according to KCNAO† It is not known whether these people have been tested for corona.
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 reported Friday (local time). Neighboring South Korea also wants to provide humanitarian aid.