N Korea outbreak is ‘worrying’, risk of new variants: WHO
GENEVA/SEOUL: A senior World Health Organization (WHO) official said on Tuesday that high levels of transmission of the coronavirus among unvaccinated people, such as in North Korea, creates a higher risk of new variants. “Certainly it’s worrying if countries ... are not using the tools that are now available,” said WHO emergencies director Mike Ryan in response to a question about the outbreak in North Korea. “WHO has repeatedly said that where you have unchecked transmission, there is always a higher risk of new variants emerging,” he said.
270k new ‘fever’ cases amid Covid crisis
Health officials in North Korea found 269,510 more people with feverish symptoms and reported another six deaths, state media said on Tuesday, as the country grapples with an escalating but largely undiagnosed Covid-19 outbreak across its unvaccinated population.
According to the North’s antivirus headquarters, 56 people have died and more than 1.48 million fell ill amid a rapid spread of fever nationwide since late April and outside experts believe most of the illnesses to be Covid-19. The North said at least 663,910 people were still in quarantine.
Meanwhile, North Korea has sent aircraft to China to pick up medical supplies days after it confirmed its first Covid-19 outbreak, media reported on Tuesday. China earlier said it would help North Korea fight the pandemic if it asked for it.
China: Beijing locks down more people
Authorities in Beijing restricted more residents to their homes on Tuesday in a now 3-weeklong effort to control a small but persistent Covid-19 outbreak in the Chinese capital. The added restrictions come as Shanghai, China’s largest city, slowly starts to ease a citywide lockdown that has trapped most of its people for more than six weeks. Also, Hong Kong will proceed with relaxing virus curbs from May 19 as previously announced.