N Korea logs rise in fever cases amid move to soften COVID curbs
Daily fever tally rises above 100,000 for the first time in three days amid reports that movement restrictions in Pyongyang may have been eased.
North Korea reported a slight jump in suspected COVID-19 cases on Monday amid media reports that movement restrictions imposed in the capital, Pyongyang, may have been lifted.
The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said 100,710 people showed symptoms of fever in the 24-hour period that ended at 6 pm on Sunday.
The tally is the first time that North Korea’s suspected COVID-19 infections bounced back above 100,000 in three days and brings the total number of cases reported since late April to more than 3.55 million.
The country had reported 89,500 fever cases over the previous 24-hour period.
The official death toll remains at 70.
North Korea is grappling with an unprecedented COVID-19 wave since declaring a state of emergency and imposing a nationwide lockdown this month, heightening concerns about a lack of vaccines, medical supplies, and food shortages.
Since the May 12 admission of an Omicron outbreak, the country has only been announcing the number of patients with feverish symptoms daily, but not those with COVID-19, apparently because of a shortage of test kits to confirm coronavirus cases in large numbers.
The daily fever tally peaked at more than 392,000 on May 15 and has been on a downward trend since.
Japan’s Kyodo news agency, citing an unnamed source in Beijing, said movement restrictions were lifted in the North Korean capital on Sunday, while South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said the lockdowns had been “partially eased”.
But a spokesperson for South Korea’s unification ministry handling inter-Korean affairs said it could not confirm the report, as the North’s state media had not announced the decision.
The reports of easing of curbs came shortly after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un presided over a politburo meeting to discuss revising anti-epidemic restrictions.
SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES