N Korea confirms 1st Covid outbreak, orders lockdown

THE REGIME HAS LONG DENIED THAT IT HAS SEEN A CASE OF COVID, A CLAIM DOUBTED BY EXPERTS IN THE U.S., JAPAN AND OTHER COUNTRIES

North Korea imposed a nationwide lockdown on Thursday to control its first acknowledged Covid-19 outbreak after holding for more than two years to a widely doubted claim of a perfect record keeping out the virus that has spread to nearly every place in the world.

The outbreak forced leader Kim Jong-un to wear a mask in public, likely for the first time since the start of the pandemic, but the scale of transmissions inside North Korea wasn’t immediately known.

A failure to slow infections could have serious consequences because the country has a poor health care system and its 26 million people are believed to be mostly unvaccinated. Some experts say North Korea, by its rare admission of an outbreak, may be seeking outside aid.

The official Korean Central News Agency said tests of samples collected on Sunday from an unspecified number of people with fevers in the capital, Pyongyang, confirmed they were infected with the Omicron variant.

In response, Kim called at a ruling party Politburo meeting for a thorough lockdown of cities and counties and said workplaces should be isolated by units to block the virus from spreading. He urged health workers to step up disinfection efforts at workplaces and homes and mobilise reserve medical supplies.

Kim said it was crucial to control transmissions and eliminate the infection source as fast as possible, while also easing inconveniences to the public caused by the virus controls. He insisted the country will overcome the outbreak because its government and people are “united as one”.

Despite the elevated virus response, Kim ordered officials to push ahead with scheduled construction, agricultural development and other state projects while bolstering the country’s defence posture to avoid any security vacuum.

North Korea’s state TV showed Kim and other senior officials wearing masks as they entered a meeting room, although Kim removed his mask to speak into a set of microphones. Still photos distributed by KNCA showed Kim unmasked and sitting at the head of a table where all other officials remained masked.

South Korea’s unification ministry, which handles interKorean affairs, couldn’t immediately confirm whether it was the first time state media showed Kim wearing a mask since the start of the pandemic.

Kim has previously spoken to huge crowds without a mask as he praised the country’s earlier pandemic response, and his decision to be seen with a mask could be aimed at raising public vigilance.

North Korea, which has maintained strict anti-virus controls at its borders for more than two years, didn’t provide further details about its new lockdown.