Cost of anti-virus fight increases Kim’s 1st show in weeks
Beijing, Feb. 16: Du Xuekun’s sales usually jump after the Lunar New Year holiday. But this year, Du has been at home for a month with no income after vast swathes of China’s economy were shut down in a sweeping effort to contain a virus outbreak.
Du, who lives in Jiaozhuo, near the central city of Zhengzhou, is one of millions of people who are bearing the soaring cost of the most extreme anti-disease measures ever imposed. Some businesses are reopening, but Beijing has told the public to stay home if possible.
“People will buy food and clothes online but for sure won't buy an apartment without seeing it,” said Du. Industries from auto sales to travel to retailing effectively shut down after curbs were imposed starting January 23 with the suspension of most access to Wuhan, an industrial metropolis of 11 million
Seoul, Feb. 16: North Korea’s Kim Jong Un marked the birth anniversary of the country’s former leader Sunday, in his first reported public appearance in over three weeks as a deadly coronavirus rages in neighbouring China.
Kim “paid high tribute” to his father Kim Jong Il at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun in Pyongyang that holds the embalmed bodies of his father and grandfather, the official Rodong Sinmun newspaper reported. The COVID-19, which
people at the centre of the outbreak. Travel restrictions expanded to cities with more than 60 million people, while curbs on business spread nationwide. The Lunar New Year holiday was extended to keep
originated in China and has killed over 1,600 people, has alarmed the North, prompting it to close its borders and suspend all
factories and offices closed. Restaurants and cinemas have been shut.
The rising losses threaten to become a political liability for the ruling Communist Party. “If the economy really gets into a flights and trains to and from its giant neighbour and most important ally.
Pyongyang has said nothing about cases in the North, but has stopped tourism and extended the quarantine period to 30 days for those suspected of carrying the virus, including foreigners.
The appearance is Kim’s first in 22 days after he attended Lunar New Year festivities then disappeared from the public eye amid global concern over the virus outbreak. tailspin, the challenge for the party will be substantially increased,” said Steve Tsang, director of the China Institute at London’s School of Oriental and African Studies.