SEOUL (AFP) – North Korea reported zero fever cases yesterday for a seventh straight day, state media said, adding that everyone who had fallen sick since the country confirmed its first COVID-19 infections had recovered.
The isolated country, which has maintained a rigid coronavirus blockade since the start of the pandemic, announced an Omicron outbreak in Pyongyang in May and activated a “maximum emergency epidemic prevention system”.
State media have meticulously reported the official number of cases, deaths, treatments and recoveries every day since, with leader Kim Jong-un putting himself centre of the government’s response.
North Korea refers to “fever patients” rather than “COVID patients” in case reports, apparently due to a lack of testing capacity.
“No new fever cases were reported during the past week and all those receiving treatment have recovered across the country,” the official KCNA reported yesterday.
“The overall anti-epidemic situation of the DPRK has entered a definite phase of stability,” the report added.
The country will continue to strengthen its monitoring of “new COVID-19 sub-variants and various diseases” and can still mobilise medical workers “in case of a crisis”, it added.
