North Korea has ordered a five-day lockdown in its capital Pyongyang due to a “respiratory illness,” a specialized South Korean website reported. The move appears to be the first city-wide measure taken since the country declared victory over Covid-19 in August 2022.
Pyongyang residents have been ordered to stay home from Wednesday to Sunday and must undergo multiple temperature readings each day, Seoul-based NK News reported, citing a government document.
This text does not mention Covid-19 but affirms that the cold is among the new diseases that are currently spreading in the capital. Citing sources in Pyongyang, NK News said on Tuesday that residents of North Korea’s largest city appeared to be stocking up for a possible lockdown.
It is not known if other territories are affected by similar lockdowns and no new measures have been announced by state media.
A first case in May 2022
The Korean Peninsula is currently in the midst of what forecasters describe as a Siberian cold snap, with temperatures in Pyongyang dipping as low as minus 22°C. China, a key trading partner and neighbor of North Korea, has faced a wave of infections since ending its drastic “zero covid” policy.
North Korea has strictly closed its borders since the start of the pandemic, but allows some trade with China. Pyongyang announced its first case of covid in May 2022, before declaring victory over the disease three months later.
The World Health Organization has long cast doubt on Pyongyang’s covid statistics and the country’s claims that the outbreak is under control. North Korea has one of the worst healthcare systems in the world, experts say, with poorly equipped hospitals, few intensive care units and no treatment for Covid-19.
Source: BFM TV
