North Korea reports 167,650 new suspected COVID

2024-06-07 10:23:04      点击：546

North Korean health care workers disinfect the zoo in Pyongyang amid an outbreak of COVID-19, in this photo from the state-run Korean Central News Agency, May 20. Yonhap

North Korea said Monday around 167,650 new cases of "fever" and another death have been confirmed over a 24-hour period until 6 p.m. the previous day, as the country stages what it calls an anti-epidemic war.

The official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported the cases, citing data from the state emergency epidemic prevention headquarters

The daily number of "fever cases" has remained below 200,000 for the second consecutive day after reaching 219,030 cases Saturday.

It raised the death toll to 68, with the fatality rate standing at 0.002 percent, the KCNA said.

The fever caseload reported since late April, in the nation with a population of 24 million, came to more than 2.81 million as of 6 p.m. Sunday, of which more than 2.33 million, or 82.9 percent, have recovered and at least 479,400 are being treated, according to the KCNA.

The Rodong Sinmun, the North's main newspaper, carried several articles Monday stressing the role of the ruling Workers' Party and urged people to strictly follow the party in its antivirus efforts.

The paper highlighted that the North was able to spend their days "safe" for over two years thanks to the party's "strict and swift measures" against the global pandemic.

The reclusive North continues to remain unresponsive to offers from South Korea and the United States on COVID-19 assistance, though observers here have raised concerns over the impoverished country's heathcare system.

On May 12, North Korea reported its first COVID-19 case after claiming to be coronavirus-free for over two years and declared the implementation of a "maximum emergency" virus control system. (Yonhap)