North Korea lifted movement restrictions imposed in the capital of Pyongyang after it reported its first Covid-19 death weeks ago, saying the situation was under control.
The nation has been fighting a battle against an unprecedented coronavirus wave since declaring a state of emergency and imposing a nationwide lockdown this month, fuelling concerns about a lack of vaccines, medical supplies and food shortages.
As of Sunday, the restrictions had been lifted, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported, citing a source in Beijing.
The Kyodo report could not be confirmed as the North Korean state media have yet to announce the decision, said a spokesman for South Korea’s Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs.
The Kyodo report came shortly after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un presided over a politburo meeting to discuss revising anti-epidemic restrictions.
The meeting concluded that the situation pertaining to the country’s first Covid outbreak was “improving”.
“The Political Bureau examined the issue of effectively and quickly co-ordinating and enforcing the anti-epidemic regulations and guidelines, given the current stable anti-epidemic situation,” North Korea’s state news agency KCNA said.
Pyongyang reported one additional death as of Sunday evening, with 100,710 more people exhibiting fever symptoms, compared with about 390,000 two weeks ago, KCNA said.
The death toll rose to 70, Reuters reported. The nation’s mortality rate stands at 0.002 per cent, a low count that no other country has reported in the fight against Covid-19, AP said.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his wife Ri Sol-ju acknowledge the audience during a military parade to mark the 90th anniversary of North Korea’s army in Pyongyang. AP
Since its May 12 admission of the Omicron outbreak, North Korea has only been announcing the number of patients with feverish symptoms daily, but not those with Covid-19.
This is due to a shortage of test kits required to confirm coronavirus cases in large numbers.
Outside health experts have viewed most of the reported fever cases as Covid-19, saying North Korean authorities would know how to distinguish the symptoms from fevers caused by other prevalent infectious diseases.