Authorities in the North Korean capital Pyongyang have declared a five-day lockdown in response to rising cases of an unspecified respiratory disease.
South Korea-based NK News reports this on the basis of a government statement that does not mention covid-19. City residents have to stay home until the end of Sunday and have their temperature checked several times a day.
On Tuesday, NK News reported that Pyongyang residents appeared to be stocking up on goods in anticipation of tougher measures. It is unclear whether new lockdowns have been imposed in other parts of the country.
Covid
North Korea acknowledged its first COVID-19 outbreak last year, which it said it passed in August. How many people have contracted the coronavirus in that time, the country has never disclosed, according to observers, because it lacked the resources to conduct widespread testing. Instead, it reported daily numbers of patients with fever, a number that has risen to about 4.77 million, out of a population of about 25 million.
Source: BNR
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