SEOUL: North Korean military medics ramped up the distribution of medicines to fight a growing coronavirus outbreak, state media said on Tuesday, with the number of reported cases of "fever" nearing 1.5 million.
Leader Kim Jong Un has ordered nationwide lockdowns to try and slow the spread of the disease through the unvaccinated population, and deployed the military after what he has called a botched response to the outbreak.
Hundreds of personnel in camouflage uniforms from the Korean People’s Army medical units were seen rallying in the capital Pyongyang in photos released by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
The military "urgently deployed its powerful forces to all pharmacies in Pyongyang City and began to supply medicines under the 24-hour service system", KCNA said. One KCNA photo showed soldiers walking next to a long line of green trucks. Kim had strongly criticised healthcare officials for their failure to keep pharmacies open.
North Korea’s leader has put himself front and centre of the country’s Covid response since its first case was announced last week, saying the outbreak is causing "great upheaval". Authorities had reported more than 1.48 million cases of "fever" as of Monday evening, KCNA said, with the death toll at 56. "At least 663,910 are under medical treatment," the agency said.
Authorities have stepped up media awareness campaigns and pharmaceutical factories have increased the production of medicines, KCNA reported. North Korea has one of the world’s worst healthcare systems, with poorly-equipped hospitals, few intensive care units, and no Covid treatment drugs or mass testing ability, experts say.
Harvey Weinstein. — AFP FileNEW YORK: Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 conviction for sexual assault and rape was...
Liberal Justice Elena Kagan on Sept. 13, 2016. — Slate website WASHINGTON: U.S. Supreme Court justices, wading back...
A representational image of inmates behind jail bars. — Unsplash/FileMOSCOW: A Russian court on Wednesday ordered...
Sudanese soldiers guard the surrounding area of the UNMIS compound in El-Fasher, the administrative capital of North...
US quietly shipped ATACMS missiles to Ukraine. — Report news agencyWASHINGTON: The United States in recent weeks...
US President Joe Biden during his address in California. — AFP FileWASHINGTON: President Joe Biden signed a...