North Korea's COVID-19 outbreak could ignite a major health crisis, check details here

North Korean media have not confirmed the total number of COVID-19 cases so far but said that more than 350,000 people have shown fever symptoms since late April.

Seoul: North Korea`s admission that it is battling an "explosive" COVID-19 outbreak has raised concerns that the virus could devastate a country with an under-resourced health system, limited testing capabilities, and no vaccine programme. The isolated North confirmed on Thursday its first COVID-19 infections since the pandemic emerged more than two years ago, shifting to the "maximum emergency epidemic prevention system" and imposing a national lockdown. On Friday it reported its first COVID-related death.

State media have not confirmed the total number of COVID-19 cases so far but said that more than 350,000 people have shown fever symptoms since late April.

Along with Eritrea, North Korea is one of only two countries that have not started a vaccination campaign against COVID-19, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The COVAX global COVID-19 vaccine-sharing programme cut the number of doses allocated for North Korea as the country has so far failed to arrange for any shipments, reportedly over international monitoring requirements.

Pyongyang also declined offers of vaccines from China. The latest reported assessment of whether leader Kim Jong Un was vaccinated was from July 2021, when South Korea`s spy agency said there were no signs he had received a shot.

North Korea said last year it had developed its own polymerase chain reaction (PCR) equipment to conduct coronavirus tests, and Russia has said it had delivered small numbers of test kits. But North Korea is heavily sanctioned over its nuclear weapons programme, and since 2020 has maintained strict border lockdowns that have blocked many supplies.