North Korea’s Covid-19 Outbreak Spreads Rapidly

Pyongyang, North Korea —(Map)

North Korea is facing a rapidly spreading outbreak of Covid-19.  The country claims it has had no cases for the last two years, but it has now had over 1.7 million cases since the first case was reported last week.

North Korea is largely shut off from much of the rest of the world normally. Though it has connections to China and a few other countries, not many people from foreign countries are allowed in. That became even more true as Covid-19 began to spread around the world. North Korea has kept its borders closed since early 2020.

Over the last two years, as many countries struggled with the coronavirus, North Korea claimed it never had any cases. But last Thursday, the country reported its first outbreak of the virus (Omicron variant). North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, called for a nation-wide lockdown.

It’s not clear where the first case came from. But the cases seemed to spread quickly after a large military parade in April. Tens of thousands of people watched or took part in the parade. Most of those people didn’t seem to be wearing masks.

Last Thursday, the country reported its first outbreak of the virus. North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, called for a nation-wide lockdown. Above, Mr. Kim appearing on TV for the first time wearing a mask.

Though North Korea has spent a lot of money developing weapons, the country is a poor one, and doesn’t have a strong health care system. Most outside experts believe North Korea doesn’t have the ability to test widely for the coronavirus.

Instead of reporting cases of Covid-19, North Korea is reporting the number of people who have “fever” and the number of people who have died. Those numbers have been rising rapidly.

North Korea reported that on Tuesday alone there had been 232,880 new “fever” cases. In all, the country has reported 1.72 million “fevers” and 62 deaths. Those numbers are still very low compared to many other countries. In the United States, for example, over 1 million people have died from Covid-19.

Instead of reporting cases of Covid-19, North Korea is reporting the number of people who have “fever” and the number of people who have died. Those numbers have been rising rapidly. Above, a health worker at a hospital checks a visitor for fever in April.

But there are concerns that the outbreak could hit the people of North Korea very hard. Of North Korea’s 26 million people, over 10 million don’t always have enough food. The coronavirus – especially the Omicron variant – spreads quickly.

Many experts worry that North Korea doesn’t have the medical workers, equipment, and supplies it needs to handle the outbreak.

Despite the government’s calls for a lockdown, in some parts of the country many people are going about their lives as normal, except they are now wearing masks. The government says the military is delivering “medicine” to stores around the country. But it’s unclear what this “medicine” might be.

Vaccinations are the best protection against Covid-19. But no one in the country has been vaccinated against the coronavirus. Though North Korea has been offered vaccines several times, it has turned down all the offers. North Korea also doesn’t have any of the medicines that have been developed to help treat people with Covid-19.

North Korea is already struggling after being closed off from the rest of the world for the last two years. It’s likely that a severe Covid-19 epidemic will make life much harder for most people in the country.

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Did You Know…?
A Covid-19 epidemic in North Korea comes with dangers for people outside the country, too. That’s because the epidemic could possibly lead to new variants that could spread beyond North Korea’s borders.