North Korean authorities are intensifying restrictions in regions of the country bordering China following a large increase in the number of people suffering from coronavirus-like symptoms, Daily NK has learned.
According to multiple sources in North Korea last Friday, the number of people complaining of high-fever, coughs, respiratory difficulties and sore throats has soared in regions along the border with China, such as Sinuiju and Sakju, as well as in the port of Nampo, through which much of North Korea’s trade with China is conducted.
When someone first comes down with fever, the case is reported to the local neighborhood watch unitNeighborhood watch units (inminban, people's units) are Nort... More and health clinic, but the country’s quarantine agencies are not providing diagnoses or treatments beyond simple temperature checks.
North Korean authorities do not conduct diagnostic tests even if patients present COVID-19 symptoms, making it difficult for fever patients to accurately determine if they have the coronavirus or not.
North Korean health authorities are reportedly ordering patients with COVID-like symptoms to quarantine at home, telling them they have “the flu.” Just like COVID-19, the flu is a highly communicable infectious disease.
However, with COVID-like cases spiking primarily in regions that border China or that have a trade relationship with China, many North Koreans believe the cases are COVID-19 cases.
TALKING ABOUT COVID-19 IS DANGEROUS
That being said, North Koreans are not allowed to say what they are suffering from “seems to be COVID-19.” After North Korean leader Kim Jong Un declared “victory” in the government’s war against the virus last year, people could face execution if they say COVID-19 has once again reared its head, the source told Daily NK.
In fact, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un declared “victory” in the country’s battle against COVID-19 during a meeting to review the nation’s emergency quarantine efforts last August, claiming the COVID threat had “totally receded.” The government then proceeded to lower the nation’s quarantine posture to “normal.”
North Korea’s recent Sixth Plenary Meeting of the Eighth Central Committee made no mention of quarantine efforts, even as it went into detail about the year’s achievements in other sectors such as the economy, defense and culture.
Some North Koreans speculate that the failure to mention quarantine efforts means that the North Korean authorities are aware that what appear to be coronvirus cases are now skyrocketing.
In fact, North Korea recently ordered authorities in border regions such as North Pyongan Province, Chagang Province, Yanggang Province and North Hamgyong Province to go on “special guard alert.”
At the plenary meeting held late last month, the authorities declared the period between Dec. 23 and Jan. 2 as a “special guard period” in regions along China-North Korea border. The announcement of this special period was ostensibly aimed at marking the end of the year and start of the new year; however, the state of alert has yet to be lifted.
Soldiers and residents of the border region believe that the government’s aim in keeping the region in high alert is to prevent people from making illegal contact with Chinese people, including through smuggling operations.
“Everyone knows that COVID-19 entered the country as smuggling increased,” the source said, adding, “From the time COVID-19 cases started climbing in China, cases in places like Sinuiju and Sakju climbed exponentially as well.”
Translated by David Black. Edited by Robert Lauler.
Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
