Pyongyang may have lifted the Covid-19 blockade

Associated Kyodo of the Japan Citing an unnamed source, the blockade order in the capital Pyongyang of North Korea was removed on May 29, but did not disclose whether the nationwide restrictions had been adjusted.

North Korean state media did not comment, while a spokesman for South Korea’s Unification Ministry did not confirm the information.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un previously chaired a meeting of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea to discuss Covid-19 prevention measures, concluding that the situation “is improving”. “.

“The Politburo has considered the issue of quick and effective coordination and enforcement of epidemic prevention and control regulations in the context of the current stable situation,” North Korea’s state news agency KCNA said.

North Korea has not confirmed the total number of people who tested positive for nCoV. The country yesterday reported 100,710 more cases of fever, compared with a peak of nearly 393,000 cases of fever a day two weeks ago, bringing the total number of fever cases in the country to more than 3.55 million. Of these, nearly 3.4 million have recovered and 188,530 are in treatment. 70 people have died, an increase of one case compared to May 28.

North Korea detected its first Covid-19 case on May 12, raising concerns about a shortage of vaccines, inadequate medical infrastructure and a potential food crisis in the nation of 25 million people.

Kim Jong-un then announced the launch of the disease control system “with the utmost urgency”, demanding to stop the momentum of the virus infection by locking down all cities and towns across the country. , as well as reorganizing business and production activities in each enterprise, to ensure a clear separation between production and living areas.

Officials have distributed food and medicine across the country, and military medics have also been deployed to help distribute drugs and conduct testing. More than a million health workers, including medical school students and faculty, have been mobilized to “contain and completely eliminate the source of transmission”.

Vu Anh (Follow Kyodo)