North Korea wary of COVID

2024-10-10 15:08:37      点击：601

Employees of Songyo Knitwear Factory wearing face masks work to produce knitted goods in Songyo District in Pyongyang, North Korea, Wednesday. AP-Yonhap

By Lee Hyo-jin

The North Korean regime has called for its people to stay united against the COVID-19 pandemic, assuring them that the virus situation can be maintained at a manageable level, in what appears to be a move to relieve public fear and anxiety stoked by the unprecedented health crisis.

State-run media outlets have reported that the government is making all-out efforts to prevent the spread of the virus, while praising North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's leadership in the battle against the virus.

Pyongyang added 262,270 new patients with "fever" on Wednesday, with one added death, increasing the total number of fatalities to 63, according to North Korea's emergency epidemic prevention headquarters. The aggregate number of suspected cases of the coronavirus now stands at 1,978,230. Among them, about 1,238,000 people have recovered, with 740,160 undergoing treatment. North Korea has a total population of 26 million.

After it disclosed its first case of BA.2 ― known as the "stealth" subvariant of Omicron ― on May 12, in a highly rare admission of a health crisis from the reclusive country, the regime has imposed a nationwide lockdown and declared a "major national emergency."

Through a series of articles published on Thursday, Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the sole ruling Central Committee of the Worker's Party, reported how the Kim regime has boosted its antivirus efforts throughout the last week, stressing that the spread of the "malicious disease" can be controlled at a manageable level through the solidarity of the people.

According to the media outlet, the government has tightened efforts to prevent the spread of the virus by setting up additional isolation wards and scaling up disinfection work across the country. Thousands of tons of salt needed to produce antiseptic solution have been delivered to Pyongyang.

In addition, according to the Korea Central News Agency, the state news agency, the government has ramped up the production of medical supplies such as thermometers, traditional Korean medicines and fever reducers, which it believes are effective in treating the coronavirus.

The state media outlet also praised Kim's leadership for showing his "aemin jeongsin" (a Korean word used to describe a leader's love for his/her people) to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The newspaper, referring to Kim to as "a frontline commander in the quarantine battle," stated that the leader is at the forefront of protecting the safety of his people. It also claimed that residents in South Hwanghae Province have become "invincible" after taking the medicine donated by Kim, lauding the leader's sacrifice for ordinary people.

In addition, the totalitarian communist regime called for unified, intensive efforts from the people, stressing that solidarity is key in overcoming the current crisis.

"What is more threatening to us than the malicious virus are unscientific fear, the lack of faith and weak efforts. The infectious disease is not something that cannot be controlled," it read, urging people to take swift action as ordered by the ruling party.