A lockdown recently ordered for Yanggang Province after fever cases emerged in the region was fully lifted on Aug. 7, Daily NK has learned.
“The ban on travel to and from Yanggang Province and between local cities and counties ordered in late July after fever cases appeared in Hyesan was lifted from 10 AM on Aug. 7,” a source in Yanggang Province told Daily NK on Wednesday, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons. “People who found it hard to make a living due to the hindrance of economic activities let out a sigh of relief.”
Nobody is happier about the lifting of the lockdown than traders. Traders had expected to be able to engage in full-scale trade after the Victory Day holiday on July 27. But when they were ordered to wear masks again and travel between provinces, cities and counties was banned with the lockdown order, they expressed considerable despair, according to the source.
“When the lockdown on Yanggang Province came, traders said they were being bled dry and it seemed the sky was falling. When the lockdown was lifted, they were overjoyed, saying they could breathe again, and the mood — which had been dying — is gradually improving.
“Seeing the vehicles full of goods on the Chinese side, expectations that full-scale trade through Hyesan Customs House will restart are climbing higher than ever.”
The authorities also reopened local markets after closing them from Aug. 3 to Aug. 7, much to the rejoicing of locals who had wondered aloud if the government had been “trying to starve all of them to death.”
“If the markets locals depend on for their livelihoods are closed, the only thing people can do is starve. Naturally, that led to complaints,” the source said. “People even cheered when the lockdown was lifted and they could go to the markets again, saying that things would be OK now and that they were saved.”
However, some people criticized the authorities for banning travel in the province because of a few fever cases. They said it was hard to understand the extreme quarantine measures, saying that “people were already feeling insecure due to food shortages, and the lockdown simply amplified those insecurities,” according to the source.
“The word ‘lockdown’ is a nightmare to people struggling with terrible hardships since the closure of the border. Some are saying they get goosebumps when they hear the words ‘fever patient.’”
Translated by David Black. Edited by Robert Lauler.
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