Kim Jong Un orders North Korea into national lockdown after Pyongyang confirms first COVID-19 outbreak
www.abc.net.au
North Korea is being put into a national lockdown, with state media saying the country is facing its "biggest emergency incident" after officially confirming its first COVID-19 outbreak.
"There has been the biggest emergency incident in the country, with a hole in our emergency quarantine front, that has been kept safely over the past two years and three months since February 2020," the report said.
There were no details on case numbers or possible sources of infection.
A South Korea-based website that monitors activities in Pyongyang said this week that residents had been told to return home and remain indoors because of a "national problem", without offering details.
Earlier, Chinese state television reported North Koreans had been ordered to stay at home since Wednesday, saying many of them had "suspected flu symptoms".
Kim Jong Un says the infection must be eliminated.(Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
KCNA said Mr Kim chaired a meeting of the ruling Korean Workers' Party's politburo, which called for officials to stabilise transmissions and eliminate the infection source as fast as possible.
North Korea had previously claimed a perfect record in keeping out COVID-19, a claim widely doubted by outside experts.
The country's population of 26 million is believed to be mostly unvaccinated, after its government shunned vaccines offered by the UN-backed COVAX distribution program.
Reuters/AP
www.abc.net.au
North Korea is being put into a national lockdown, with state media saying the country is facing its "biggest emergency incident" after officially confirming its first COVID-19 outbreak.
- Omicron has been detected in the country's capital city Pyongyang
- Kim Jong Un has ordered that the infection source be "eliminated"
- North Korea previously claimed a perfect record in keeping out COVID-19
"There has been the biggest emergency incident in the country, with a hole in our emergency quarantine front, that has been kept safely over the past two years and three months since February 2020," the report said.
There were no details on case numbers or possible sources of infection.
A South Korea-based website that monitors activities in Pyongyang said this week that residents had been told to return home and remain indoors because of a "national problem", without offering details.
Earlier, Chinese state television reported North Koreans had been ordered to stay at home since Wednesday, saying many of them had "suspected flu symptoms".
KCNA said Mr Kim chaired a meeting of the ruling Korean Workers' Party's politburo, which called for officials to stabilise transmissions and eliminate the infection source as fast as possible.
North Korea had previously claimed a perfect record in keeping out COVID-19, a claim widely doubted by outside experts.
The country's population of 26 million is believed to be mostly unvaccinated, after its government shunned vaccines offered by the UN-backed COVAX distribution program.
Reuters/AP
