SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Russia’s embassy in North Korea says the country has eased strict epidemic controls in the capital Pyongyang that were put in place over the past five days to curb the spread of respiratory illnesses.
North Korea has not officially recognized a lockdown in Pyongyang or a resurgence of COVID-19 after leader Kim Jong Un declared a widely disputed victory over the coronavirus. in August, but Facebook posts from the Russian embassy have provided rare glimpses of the secretive country’s infectious disease controls.
The embassy on Monday released a notice issued by North Korea’s Foreign Ministry informing foreign diplomats that the “special anti-epidemic period” imposed on Pyongyang since Wednesday was lifted from Monday.
Last week, the embassy said North Korean health authorities required diplomatic missions to keep their employees indoors and also measure their temperatures four times a day and report the results to a hospital in Pyongyang. He said North Korea’s measures were in response to an increase in “influenza and other respiratory illnesses” but did not mention the spread of COVID-19 or the restrictions placed on ordinary citizens.
Shortly before that publication, NK NewsA North Korea-focused news website cited a North Korean government advisory to report that health officials had imposed a five-day lockdown on Pyongyang in an effort to stem the spread of respiratory illnesses.
North Korean state media in recent weeks has emphasized vigilance against a possible resurgence of COVID-19. The official Rodong Sinmun newspaper, which previously described the anti-virus campaign as the “No. 1” on national affairs, called on North Koreans to maintain a “high crisis sense” on Monday as COVID-19 continues to spread in neighboring countries.
North Korea maintains it has had no confirmed cases of COVID-19 since Aug. 10, when Kim used a major political conference to declare the country had eradicated the coronavirus, just three months after the country acknowledged an omicron outbreak. ..
While Kim claimed the country’s supposed success against the virus would be recognized as a global health miracle, experts believe North Korea has manipulated revelations about its outbreak to help him maintain complete control.
From May to August, North Korea reported around 4.8 million “fever cases” in its population of 26 million, but only identified a fraction of them as COVID-19. Experts say the country’s official death toll of 74 is abnormally small, considering the country’s lack of public health tools.
North Korea has dubiously insisted that rival South Korea was responsible for its COVID-19 outbreak, saying the virus was carried by anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets and other materials that flew across the border in balloons. launched by South Korean civil activists. South Korea has dismissed such claims as unscientific and “ridiculous.”
