N. Korea making ‘all-out efforts’ to guard against virus

Japan quarantines 3,700 on cruise ship

SEOUL, South Korea, Feb 4, (Agencies): North Korea said Tuesday it was mobilizing 30,000 health workers everyday in its “all-out efforts” to guard against the spread of a virus from neighboring China.

North Korea hasn’t reported any case of the new coronavirus, but some experts say an epidemic in North Korea could be dire because of its chronic lack of medical supplies and poor health care infrastructure.

Authorities were redoubling border inspections and conducting screenings and medical surveillance on those who return from overseas business trips, the North’s main Rodong Sinmun newspaper said.

It said the 30,000 workers are examining and monitoring residents and trying to inform North Korean people about how dangerous the virus is, how it spreads and what precautionary steps they should take.

North Korea shares a long, porous border with China, its last major diplomatic ally and aid benefactor. Tens of thousands of North Korean workers were believed to be working in China before a UN order for Beijing to send them back home expired in December. It was unknown how many of them have returned home.

The newspaper said research centers and pharmaceutical factories were working to develop and produce drugs, test kits, disinfectants and other medical supplies and government ministries were prioritizing quarantine efforts.

North Korea has also banned foreign tourists, reduced flights and suspended operations at a liaison office it has jointly run with South Korea located just north of the inter-Korean border. South Korea on Tuesday reported its 16th case of the virus.

North Korea took similar tough quarantine measures during the 2002-03 spread of SARS, which also began in China. North Korea didn’t report any SARS case there, according to the South Korean government.

Meanwhile, Japanese officials began quarantining a cruise ship carrying 3,700 passengers and crew Tuesday after a Hong Kong passenger was diagnosed with the new coronavirus virus.

Quarantine officers entered the ‘Diamond Princess’ cruise ship, which arrived the port of Yokohama near Tokyo on Monday evening, to check the health of all 2,700 passengers and 1,000 crew members, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said. The move comes as the 80-year-old man who disembarked in his home city on January 25 tested positive for the deadly virus on Saturday. The Hong Kong man flew to Tokyo on January 17 and boarded the vessel at Yokohama on January 20, according to the ministry.

Japan has 20 confirmed coronavirus cases, of these 17 people have been in Wuhan, the central Chinese city where the deadly outbreak originated. Since Saturday, the government has denied entry to foreigners who have been in China’s Hubei Province, where Wuhan is located, over the last 14 days as well as holders of Chinese passports issued in Hubei. A total of eight foreigners have been barred from entering Japan, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a press conference on Monday.

South Korea on Tuesday confirmed its 16th case of novel coronavirus infection, with the latest patient having recently visited Thailand, Yonhap News Agency reported.