North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un was photographed wearing a disposable facial mask for the first time as he held a meeting with officials to discuss the latest Covid outbreak in the country.
North Korea announced its first coronavirus infection more than two years into the pandemic on Thursday (12 May), as Kim ordered a strict nationwide lockdown.
State media have reported an Omicron outbreak in the capital, Pyongyang, but did not reveal the number of cases.
Meanwhile, North Korea Friday confirmed that at least six people died and 3.5 lakh have been treated for a fever that has spread "explosively" across the nation, a day after its first acknowledgement of a COVID-19 outbreak, AP reported.
North Korea, which likely does not have sufficient COVID-19 tests and other medical equipment, said it did not know the case of the mass fevers. The North's official Korean Central News Agency said of the 3.5 lakh people who developed fevers since late April, 1,62,200 have recovered. It said 18,000 people were newly found with fever symptoms on Thursday alone, and 1,87,800 people are being isolated for treatment.
One of the six people who died was confirmed infected with the omicron variant, KCNA said, but it was not immediately clear how many of the total illnesses were COVID-19.
Those reports said tests from an unspecified number of people came back positive for the omicron variant.
Some experts say the North's initial announcement communicates a willingness to receive outside aid. It previously shunned vaccines offered by the UN-backed COVAX distribution programme, possibly because they have international monitoring requirements.
South Korea's Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs, said the South was willing to provide medical assistance and other help to North Korea based on humanitarian considerations.
KCNA said Kim was briefed about the fever when he visited the emergency epidemic prevention headquarters on Thursday and criticised officials for failing to prevent "a vulnerable point in the epidemic prevention system". He said the spread of the fever has been centred around the capital Pyongyang and nearby areas and underscored the importance of isolating all work, production and residential units from one another while providing residents with every convenience during the lockdown.
"It is the most important challenge and the supreme task facing our party to reverse the immediate public health crisis at an early date, restore the stability of epidemic prevention and protect the health and well-being of our people," KCNA quoted Kim as saying.
Describing its anti-coronavirus campaign as a matter of "national existence", North Korea had severely restricted cross-border traffic and trade and is even believed to have ordered troops to shoot on sight any trespassers who cross its borders.
Hours after confirming the outbreak Thursday, North Korea launched three short-range ballistic missiles toward the sea, South Korea and Japan said, in what possibly was a show of strength after Kim publicly acknowledged the virus outbreak.
Meanwhile, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the United States supported international aid efforts but does not plan to share its vaccine supplies with the North.
(with agency inputs)
