Even though Kim Jong Un claimed victory against COVID-19 two weeks ago, authorities have reported four new fever cases in the border area.
Two weeks after Kim Jong Un claimed victory against COVID-19, North Korea reports discovering four new fever cases in its border area with China.
Health professionals in North Korea’s Ryanggang Province are reportedly performing genetic testing on samples from four patients with fevers to see whether or not they are related to the “malignant epidemic,” according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency.
It is a common way for people in the North to refer to COVID-19 and other coronaviruses.
Authorities have instituted strong restrictions and quarantines in the hotspots where the fever cases have surfaced, and they want to keep them in place until the source of the sickness has been identified.
If you have a fever and have not been affected by the malignant epidemic, it is important to seek medical assistance, KCNA said.
As the article states, the country’s emergency anti-virus center has sent “skilled epidemiology, virology and test specialists to the region” to “track all those… associated with the suspicious cases, and persons travelling to or from the relevant area and keep them under tight medical surveillance.”
Within three months after acknowledging an epidemic, North Korea said that there had been no confirmed instances of COVID-19 anywhere in the nation since August 10, when Kim proclaimed victory over the virus and ordered preventative measures loosened.
Despite Kim’s assertions that North Korea’s victory over the virus will be heralded as a public health marvel across the world, analysts think that Kim has twisted information about the virus’s breakout in the North to consolidate power.
Experts believe that Kim’s victory declaration indicates he is shifting his focus to other issues, maybe even a nuclear test.
North Korea claimed around 5 million instances of fever throughout its predominantly unvaccinated population of 26 million in May after acknowledging an epidemic of the Omicron version of the virus, but only a small percentage of those cases were confirmed to be caused by COVID-19.
Experts are surprised by the low death toll (allegedly just 74 persons) given the country’s poor infrastructure for public health.
At a national conference in Pyongyang, Kim declared victory against COVID-19. Shortly after, Kim’s strong sister gave a belligerent speech in which she blamed South Korea for the outbreak, despite there being no evidence that the country was at fault, and threatened lethal vengeance.
The South Korean government has called North Korea’s assertions of South Korean activists spreading disease through balloons as “ridiculous” and “unscientific,” but Pyongyang insists that the South’s anti-Pyongyang propaganda pamphlets and other things were responsible for the first outbreak in the North. Concerns have been raised that Kim Yo Jong’s words foreshadow a provocation, such as a nuclear or missile launch or perhaps border conflicts.
To tackle the escalating nuclear danger from North Korea, South Korea and the United States are holding their largest joint military drill in years. Ulchi Freedom Shield, a military drill in South Korea, will continue through September 1.
Since 2019, negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang to settle the nuclear stalemate have been at a standstill due to disputes over how to trade the North’s denuclearization efforts for the debilitating sanctions imposed by the United States and its allies.
Source: aljazeera.com
