First COVID cases prompt strict national lockdown in North Korea

After establishing its first official COVID infections, North Korea has imposed a severe countrywide lockdown.

The capital, Pyongyang, has been hit by an Omicron outbreak, according to state media, but the number of cases is unknown.

North Korea has refused to participate in any vaccine program, even when other countries have offered to supply it.

Instead, it kept Covid under control by locking its boundaries, despite the fact that specialists believe the virus has been present for a long time.

Outsiders claim the country’s 25 million people are at risk owing to the lack of a Covid-19 immunization program, despite the country’s rejection of international offers to deliver millions of AstraZeneca and Sinovac vaccines last year.

Concerns have also been expressed concerning North Korea’s ailing healthcare system.

KCNA reported that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had pledged to end the epidemic.

Describing it as a “grave national emergency” that had breached the country’s “quarantine barrier.”

Kim was shown on camera for the first time wearing a face mask during the discussion explaining the new Covid restrictions.

He quickly removed it, although the other officials present did not.

Kim had ordered “maximum emergency” virus controls, according to KCNA, which looked to include localized lockdowns and gathering restrictions in workplaces.

According to the North Korean news channel, the first incidence of the Omicron variety was discovered four days ago in the capital.

A Seoul-based monitoring site, residents in several Pyongyang neighborhoods had been under lockdown for at least two days prior to the latest declaration.

The South Korean government says it has reiterated its offer of humanitarian help to the North. Pyongyang has not responded yet.