North Korea uses thousands of tons of salt to produce disinfectants

Unlike the previous days, this country only recorded 1 death in 24 hours, as of 6pm on May 18. Since publishing the epidemic data, North Korea has recorded 63 deaths.

At least 740,160 people are under medical isolation.

According to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), of the reported cases of fever, more than 1.23 million people have fully recovered.

After more than two years of being cleared of COVID-19, North Korea confirmed its first case on May 12, saying this case was infected with BA.2, a subline of the highly infectious variant of Omicron and commonly known as Omicron. “invisible”.

KCNA called it a “serious emergency of the country” due to “a hole in the emergency isolation line that has been kept safe for the past 2 years and 3 months since February 2020”. On the day of announcing the first case, North Korea locked down all provinces and cities across the country to limit the spread of the disease. Since the beginning of the week, the country has mobilized the army to distribute drugs to pharmacies in Pyongyang.

According to KCNANorth Korea is ramping up production of medicines and medical supplies including disinfectants and thermometers in the capital Pyongyang and surrounding areas. More isolation wards were set up and disinfection work was stepped up across the country.

“Thousands of tons of salt have been urgently transported to the city of Pyongyang to produce disinfectant solutions.”, KCNA let me know.

In a statement released on May 18, UN officials expressed concern about North Korea’s response to the epidemic, warning of Pyongyang’s response to the outbreak. COVID-19 can cause “serious consequences” for people’s lives.

“The latest restrictive measures, including strict lockdowns and further travel restrictions, will have dire consequences for those struggling to meet their basic needs.“, said United Nations human rights office spokesman Liz Throssell.

Ms. Throssell called on North Korean officials to assess the impact of any anti-epidemic measures on vulnerable populations, and learn from the experiences of places that have effectively fought the epidemic.

“We urge North Korea to consider this as an urgent matter to discuss with the United Nations about opening channels of humanitarian assistance, including medicines, vaccines, equipment and other assistance,” he said. this woman added.

Pyongyang has so far not responded to requests for medical assistance from outside.

The UN official also reiterated the call by UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet that countries should ease sanctions to provide emergency humanitarian assistance and help North Korea respond to the epidemic.