North Korea’s State Emergency Anti-epidemic Command recently summoned the emergency anti-epidemic commands of North and South Hwanghae Provinces and Kaesong to a sudden late night teleconference.
A source in South Hwanghae Province told Daily NK on Thursday that the State Emergency Anti-epidemic Command convened the teleconference on the night of July 12.
“It handed out several warnings, pointing to things that weren’t done according to public health administration guidelines and regulations,” he said.
According to the source, the State Emergency Anti-epidemic Command said during the meeting that COVID-19 and other infectious diseases had turned into a “stew” that was threatening people because “officials failed to pay close attention during their work in accordance with the state’s health administrative guidelines and regulations.”
It strongly criticized the incompetence of the three regions’ emergency anti-epidemic commands.
The State Emergency Anti-epidemic Command called on officials to punish doctors, pharmacists or quarantine officials who turned away sick locals who requested examinations without providing accurate diagnoses, calling on them to be sacked or forced to take part in quarantine-related fumigation duties.
The source said the State Emergency Anti-epidemic Command said it could not overlook the offending parties’ “inhumane, lackadaisical and irresponsible behavior, which can’t be trivialized during the maximum emergency quarantine period.”
Furiously, it said the individuals should also face criminal punishments since their actions “cause labor shortages at state production workplaces, leading productivity to suffer.”
The State Emergency Anti-epidemic Command also stressed that officials must always be on guard against the danger of COVID-19.
The command noted that North Korea should monitor the COVID-19 situation with greater interest than other countries and focus efforts on quarantine activities. It explained that even in foreign countries where there have been several rounds of vaccinations, COVID-19 not only continues, but has even become endemic.
The source that the State Emergency Anti-epidemic Command ordered the establishment of a “public health administrative system” suited to North Korea’s current situation while referencing foreign examples. It also slammed some quarantine officials for hiding the number of infectious disease cases.
State Emergency Anti-epidemic Command condemned provincial, city and county quarantine officials who fudge the numbers as “audacious people who report lies to the party,” the source said.
“It warned that it would not tolerate this behavior going forward, telling officials to accurately report the numbner of cases in their region,” he explained.
The source added that the State Emergency Anti-epidemic Command told officials that only the headquarters in Pyongyang has the authority to add or subtract from the case total, while subordinate units may offer only opinions.
“It strongly called on officials on the ground to stick to guidelines and regulations during quarantine efforts, treatments, isolations and disinfection activities,” he said.
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