North Korea declared an unspecified gastro-intestinal epidemic on Thursday, potentially adding to pressure on the health care system in the isolated country battling an unprecedented wave of COVID-19 infections.
The Korean Central News Agency reported that leader Kim Jong Un sent medicines to the western port city of Haegu on Wednesday to help patients suffering from the “acute intestinal epidemic” as soon as possible.
The agency did not mention the number of people infected or details of the nature of the disease.
From North Korea (Reuters)
The agency said, “(Kim) stressed the need to contain the epidemic as soon as possible by taking precise measures to quarantine suspected cases to limit its spread, and confirm cases through epidemiological examination and scientific tests.”
The outbreak comes as North Korea is responding to the country’s first confirmed outbreak of the COVID-19 disease. A state of emergency was declared last month amid fears of a shortage of vaccines and medical supplies.
And Pyongyang announced that it recorded 26,010 new cases of “fever” symptoms, today, Thursday, and the total number of infected people since late April is approaching 4.56 million. The death toll related to the outbreak was 73.
North Korea announces the daily number of people with “fever”, not Covid-19, apparently due to the lack of testing tools.