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North Korea Declares COVID-19 a 'Severe Emergency' After Reporting First Case of Virus Infection
We are currently in the third year of the SARS-CoV-2 causing the COVID-19 pandemic. However, there was one country which had very much protected itself from letting COVID enter its borders - North Korea. However, on Thursday, the country has confirmed its first-ever case of Covid-19, with state media declaring it a "severe national emergency incident" after more than two years of purportedly keeping the pandemic at bay.
The official Korean Central News Agency said tests of samples collected from people who had fever-cold like symptoms have confirmed that they were infected with the highly mutated omicron variant of COVID-19. Taking cognizance of the situation in the country, leader Kim Jong Un called for a strict lockdown of cities and counties and said workplaces should be isolated by units to stop the deadly COVID virus from spreading. Why a 'severe national emergency' has been declared in North Korea? The country's population of 26 million is believed to be mostly unvaccinated after its government shunned vaccines offered by the U.N.-backed COVAX distribution program, possibly because those have international monitoring requirements. This makes it difficult for the country to fight such a virulent and dangerous virus from spreading and affecting the people. Follow TheHealthSite.com for all the latest updates on COVID-19.
