Published: Just now
North Korean authorities have ordered a five-day lockdown of the capital Pyongyang due to the spread of the disease.
The city’s residents must stay at home between Wednesday and Sunday and during that time are tested for fever several times a day, reports South Korea’s NK News.
Covid-19 is not mentioned, but according to NK News, the measures are, among other things, about reducing the spread of what is described as a cold.
It is not known if similar measures have been taken in other parts of the country.
The winter is described as harsh in North Korea with temperatures around minus 22 degrees in Pyongyang.
The usually tight-lipped North Korea has been even more closed since the start of the pandemic. The country acknowledged its first covid outbreak in April last year but declared victory over the virus just three months later, calling it a “miracle”.
North Korean information about covid is strongly doubted by experts and the number of deaths and infections is believed to be greatly underestimated.
The country is considered to have one of the world’s worst healthcare systems, with poorly equipped hospitals, few intensive care units and no medicines or vaccines against covid-19, according to experts.
Few of the country’s 25 million inhabitants are believed to be vaccinated.