North Korea reports another fever surge amid Covid-19 crisis
India Today
On Tuesday, North Korea reported another large jump in illnesses believed to be Covid-19.
North Korea on Tuesday reported another large jump in illnesses believed to be Covid-19 and encouraged good health habits, as a mass outbreak spreads through its unvaccinated population and military officers were deployed to distribute medicine.
State media said the anti-virus headquarters reported another 269,510 people were found with fevers and six had died. That raises North Korea's deaths to 56 after more than 1.48 million people became ill with fever since late April. North Korea lacks test kits to confirm coronavirus infections in large numbers, and the report didn't say how many of the fever cases were Covid-19.
The outbreak is almost certainly greater than the fever tally, considering the lack of tests and resources to monitor and treat the sick. North Korea's virus response comes down to isolating people with symptoms at shelters, and as of Tuesday, at least 663,910 people were in quarantine.
In addition to lacking vaccines for its 26 million people, the country also grapples with malnourishment and chronic poverty, and lacks public health tools, including antiviral drugs or intensive care units, which suppressed hospitalisations and deaths in other countries.
ALSO READ: SARS-CoV-2 may be at root of mysterious hepatitis in kids: Report
Some experts suspect North Korea is underreporting deaths to soften the blow for authoritarian leader Kim Jong Un, who already was navigating the toughest moment of his decade in power. The pandemic has further damaged an economy already broken by mismanagement and US-led sanctions over Kim's nuclear ambitions.
The North's fatalities may surge in coming weeks as those who develop symptoms later succumb to the illness.
