North Korea Faces 1st Covid Outbreak, Over 40 Deaths Due To ‘Fever’

North Korea – often referred to as “the hermit state”– has recorded a massive Covid-19 outbreak, after claiming to have zero Covid cases for nearly two years.

The country on Thursday recorded its first confirmed patient and within a few hours, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un announced a nationwide lockdown.

Here are five latest developments in the newly Covid-hit country:

North Korea on Sunday confirmed 15 more deaths due to ‘fever’, taking the country’s reported fever-related fatalities to 42.

The official Korean Central News Agency reported 296,180 people have flu symptoms taking the reported total to 820,620 as the country deals with its first Covid-19 outbreak. While ‘fever’ has reportedly spread across the country since late April, the exact number of Covid-19 cases has not been disclosed.

The Covid-19 outbreak in North Korea has triggered concern about a humanitarian crisis because most of the people in the country are believed to be unvaccinated against the coronavirus, reported news agency AP.

As per experts, North Korea might suffer huge fatalities if it doesn’t immediately receive outside shipments of vaccines, medicines, and other medical supplies, reported AP.

State news agency KCNA reported that the country was taking “swift state emergency measures” to control the epidemic.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had described this as a historically “great upheaval”. He also called for unity between the government and people to address the outbreak as quickly as possible.