North Hamgyong Province is eagerly moving forward with plans to construct testing labs built to biological safety level (BSL) 2 in the province.
A source in North Hamgyong Province told Daily NK on Friday that the province’s Emergency Anti-epidemic Command held a meeting under the guidance of the party’s organizational department to discuss plans to build one such facility at a specialized hospital for infectious diseases currently under construction in the province.
Provincial authorities are actively pushing the establishment of the lab, the source added.
Based on the source’s account, the organizational department of the North Hamgyong Province party committee gathered officials from the Emergency Anti-epidemic Command for a separate guidance meeting on July 9, following the usual Saturday lecture hour. They spent an hour and a half discussing plans to build the lab.
The meeting proposed two plans. The first plan was to build a separate building near the entrance of the hospital, along with the emergency room and security room. The second plan was to construct labs at quarantine stations and clinics, which are smaller than hospitals.
The meeting emphasized the urgency of implementing a new response system given that the nation has recently experienced just how important public health and quarantine systems are. The meeting pointed to the failure to properly respond early to the latest COVID-19 outbreak.
In fact, there was criticism voiced during the meeting that the latest COVID-19 outbreak plunged the province into chaos and destroyed the lives of officials and residents due to the lack of an early response system.
The meeting stressed the need to create the basis to enable health officials to conduct “simultaneous and comprehensive” testing across all sectors with a view to provide screenings and treatments should an infectious disease spark another national emergency in the future.
The source said that the meeting also emphasized the importance of importing necessary equipment at the right time during the process of building the facility. The meeting called on health authorities to carefully consider the facility’s staff, given the importance of proper management.
Specifically, there was a discussion during the meeting about building a response system when the COVID-19 outbreak dies down somewhat, as well as the methods for directly managing the facility and selecting the officials to staff it.
The source said the provincial party’s organization department that “given the importance of establishing a BSL 2 lab, all officials must unite as one and quickly complete the facility with a view to report it to the party.”
KCNA and other North Korean media reported on July 19 that, using the demonstration lab at the quarantine center in Taedong County as a model, central government quarantine authorities were carrying out efforts to establish BSL 2 labs at quarantine facilities nationwide.
“[We are making headway] to equip the test rooms of second level of biological safety [sic], under construction across the country, with tens of kinds of equipment and facilities including real-time PCR and reinforce the examination equipment [sic] in the areas along frontline, boundary and coasts and epidemically dangerous zones,” KCNA reported on July 11.
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