Despite officially announcing the end of the country’s outbreak of COVID-19 last year, North Korean authorities continue to emphasize that pandemic prevention measures remain their top national priority. With pandemic prevention policies continuing, North Koreans who had been anticipating loosened restrictions and border re-openings are growing increasingly disheartened.
“Last year, everyone had welcomed the government’s announcement that the pandemic was over, but the government’s policies still haven’t changed from the COVID-19 lockdown period. People once had high hopes, but that hope is fading away as time goes on,” a reporting partner in Yanggang Province told Daily NK on Mar. 28, speaking on condition of anonymity.
When the COVID-19 pandemic first broke out in early 2020, North Korea responded with draconian measures and sealed off its borders. Imports of various raw materials, daily necessities and foodstuffs all dropped sharply, and the government used the pretext of pandemic prevention measures to limit people’s freedom of movement and reduce hours local markets could remain open. Between the loss of crucial imports and heightened government restrictions, it became even more difficult for people to make a living.
Yet, at a meeting to review the nation’s emergency quarantine efforts last August, North Korea declared that it had completely resolved the crisis and won the war against COVID-19.
After the announcement, many North Koreans hoped that the re-opening of long-closed customs houses would mean that they could soon return to pre-pandemic level market activities. Many saw the announcement as a public signal that restrictions would soon be eased, according to the reporting partner.
Contrary to people’s expectations, however, North Korea’s government has continued to emphasize pandemic prevention as the top national priority and maintained restrictions, all while actively putting out propaganda intended to raise the public’s awareness of the importance of preventing the spread of disease and instill a spirit of compliance with disease control measures.
“The government is using its emergency pandemic prevention policies to exercise even greater control and carry out harsh crackdowns against people,” the reporting partner explained. “By saying that pandemic prevention is a top national priority, the government is indicating that it intends to maintain its current restrictive policies.”
GOVERNMENT STILL OPERATES ISOLATION FACILITIES
According to the reporting partner, North Korea continues to operate major isolation facilities.
“No one has been quarantined at the government facilities recently, but the authorities are still operating them, as well as the regional and local state-designated virus inspection facilities, in case there is a resurgence in the disease. The government has named emergency pandemic prevention efforts as its top national priority, so it can’t get rid of the various pandemic-related facilities or it would lose its justification for continuing efforts to halt the spread of disease.”
He added: “The authorities are no longer visiting households to check for fevers. If someone has a high fever or exhibits COVID-like symptoms, people just inform the head of their inminban [neighborhood watch unit] or a local medical clinic.”
Meanwhile, North Korean authorities still do not have the proper tools to diagnose whether people have caught COVID-19 or not, the reporting partner claimed.
“There haven’t been any recent instances where groups of people have developed fevers, but cases continue to emerge of people developing cold-like symptoms and ultimately die after their symptoms worsen.”
One resident of Kapsan County died in mid-January following a high fever, while another person in Hyesan’s Yonbong 1-dong neighborhood died under similar circumstances in late January, the reporting partner said.
He also told Daily NK that residents of Kaeunsong-ri, a village in Samsu County, recently received lecture materials that mentioned the negative impact on society of six people who had improperly managed their health and ultimately died after suffering from high fevers.
“The problem is that while [those six people] died from high fevers, no one knows whether their deaths were caused by COVID-19, tuberculosis, or the common cold.”
Translated by Rose Adams. Edited by Robert Lauler.
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