North Korea is currently quarantining thousands of people and shipping food and other types of aid to a southern city locked down due to the coronavirus or COVID-19 worries, officials mentioned, as the nation's response to a suspected case reinforces doubts about the country's longstanding claim to be virus-free, as per reports.
But amid the suspicion and a series of North Korean propaganda glorifying the virus efforts, an exchange between Pyongyang and the UN is providing new clarity, and actual numbers, about what is probably going on in the country that has closed its borders and cut travel.
COVID-19 in North Korea
North Korea had previously stated that it has imposed emergency for guarding against the virus after finding a person having coronavirus symptoms in Kaesong city, near the border with rival South Korea, as reported by the Daily Mail.
The state media confirmed that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un then ordered a complete lockdown of Kaesong, and claimed that the suspected case was person who came back from South Korea. The steps that the nation took raised speculations the country might be worrying about a big outbreak after for some months claiming it had no cases.
North Korea mentioned that it has quarantined 64 first contacts of the suspected Kaesong case and 3,571 secondary contacts for 40 days in a report, according to WHO representative Dr. Edwin Salvador, as reported by the AP.
Coronavirus Global Crisis
Salvador stated that the test results of the suspected cases inconclusive. According to Salvador, North Korea has quarantined and released 25,905 since the end of December. Many around the world believe that the virus has created a major stir in the country and their beliefs are getting stronger with every passing day.
The deadly virus outbreak has infected more than 18.8 million people globally and claimed the lives of over 707,000 people worldwide in more than 1670 nations. Scientists are currently working to find a cure for the disease as an effective vaccine is expected by the first quarter of 2021.
