North Korea confirms 21 new deaths as it battles COVID

North Korea on Saturday reported 21 new deaths and 1,74,440 more people with fever symptoms as the country scrambles to slow the spread of COVID-19 across its unvaccinated population. 2,80,810 remained in quarantine. State media did not specify how many of the fever cases and deaths were confirmed as COVID-19 infections. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, during a meeting on anti-virus strategies on Saturday, described the outbreak as a historically "huge disruption" and called for unity between the government and people to stabilise the outbreak as quickly as possible.

Experts say a failure to control the spread of COVID-19 could have devastating consequences in North Korea, considering the country's poor healthcare system and that its 26 million (2.6 crore) people are largely unvaccinated. State media said tests of virus samples collected Sunday from an unspecified number of people with fevers in the country's capital, Pyongyang, confirmed that they were infected with the Omicron variant. The country has so far officially confirmed one death as linked to the Omicron infection. The viral spread could have been accelerated after an estimated tens of thousands of civilians and troops gathered for a massive military parade in Pyongyang on April 25, where Kim took centre stage and showcased the most powerful missiles of his military nuclear programme.

North Korea has not reported on the possible source of the outbreak. But a Seoul-based website that reports from sources in North Korea said late on Friday some students of a university in Pyongyang had tested positive after participating in an event on May 1. Leader Kim had also attended the event.The students had relatives who worked in trade with China and may have spread the virus when they subsequently visited their hometowns outside Pyongyang, the Daily NK website said citing a source in Pyongyang.