North Korea on Saturday reported more than 200,000 new fever patients for the fifth straight day as the country battles its first confirmed outbreak of the coronavirus.
The wave of Covid-19, declared last week, has fueled concerns about a lack of vaccines, inadequate medical infrastructure and a potential food crisis in the country of 25 million people, which has refused foreign aid and kept its borders closed.
At least 219,030 people had symptoms of fever on Friday night, bringing the total number of cases to 2,460,640, the official KCNA news agency reported, citing data from the state headquarters for emergency epidemic prevention. The total death toll has risen to 66.
KCNA did not say how many people tested positive for the virus.
In another report, KCNA said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un held a meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea’s powerful politburo early Saturday to check the Covid-19 situation and the responses given. in the nine days since the outbreak began.
Kim praised the “positive progress” in the antivirus campaign, but called for consistent policy tweaks and optimization to “grab the chance to win the battle against the epidemic.”
KCNA did not detail where Kim saw progress, but state media praised “good results” in the country’s fight against Covid-19, citing sustained agriculture and production in industrial sectors and important construction projects.
With no national vaccination campaign and limited testing capacity, the daily data released by state media is likely to be underreported, and it can be difficult to gauge the scale of the Covid-19 wave, experts said.
The United Nations (UN) human rights agency has warned of “devastating” consequences for North Korea’s 25 million people, while the World Health Organization has said the uncontrolled spread could lead to the emergence of new, deadlier variants. .
Source: CNN Brasil
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