North Korea confirmed the country’s first-ever COVID-19 outbreak Thursday and declared a severe “national emergency”.
The country is under a strict lockdown after the samples collected from several people with fevers in the capital, Pyongyang, came back positive for the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
According to the state media, the country’s leader Kim Jong Un vowed to “eliminate” the virus.
Top officials of the country held a crisis meeting that included leader Kim Jong Un. It was announced shortly they would implement a “maximum emergency” virus control system.
For a country that lacks medical resources and has refused international aid with vaccinations, the first public acknowledgement of COVID infections highlights the potential for a major crisis.
