North Korea said on Sunday that a total of 42 people had died as the country began its fourth day under a nationwide lockdown aimed at stemming the impoverished country’s first confirmed outbreak. COVID-19 outbreak.
On Thursday, North Korea for the first time acknowledged a COVID outbreak and ordered the lockdowns. The state news agency KCNA said the country was taking “swift state emergency measures” to control the epidemic.
“All provinces, cities and counties in the country have been fully locked down and work units, production units and residential units have been closed with each other since the morning of May 12 and a strict and intensive examination of all people,” KCNA reported. on Sunday.
A day earlier, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said the spread of COVID-19 had thrown his country into “great turmoil” and called for an all-out battle to overcome the outbreak.
Health authorities set up more epidemic prevention posts and rushed medical supplies to hospitals and clinics, while senior officials donated reserve drugs, KCNA reported.
At least 296,180 more people had symptoms of a fever and 15 more had died as of Sunday, the outlet said.
Experts say North Korea appears to lack the capacity to test those tens of thousands of symptomatic patients. KCNA did not report how many of those suspected cases had tested positive for COVID-19.
Overall, North Korea has reported 820,620 suspected cases, with 324,550 still under medical treatment, the KCNA said.
— Reporting by Josh Smith
