DorisAiken
North Korea oversees about 7,000 medical people, believed to be in quarantine at home, in an attempt to prevent nCoV from entering the country.
North Korea's Rodong Sinmun newspaper said today about 2,420 people in South Pyongan Province and 1,500 people in Gangwon Province are being monitored by health authorities to prevent the Covid-19 outbreak in the country. Last week, North Korea's Central Radio reported about 3,000 people were being watched in North Pyongan Province, which borders China.
A North Korean person was tested on his body temperature in a photo published by state media on February 27 Photo: Yonhap
North Korean media did not specify how the monitoring process was conducted and who had to comply. According to Rodong Sinmun, North Korean health agencies are increasingly monitoring people with heart disease, respiratory diseases and high blood pressure.
The newspaper also said that those who were monitored were provided by the government with basic supplies, leading to speculation that they were being quarantined at home.
North Korea said on Monday it had quarantined about 380 foreigners to stop nCoV and shut down some public facilities as emergency measures. North Korea has not recorded any cases of nCoV.
North Korea has taken relatively quickly precautionary measures against the Covid-19 epidemic by closing its border with China and doubling the 30-day isolation period compared to other countries. The country is at high risk of a disease outbreak due to its long border with China, while the infrastructure and medical supplies for testing and treatment of infected people are very limited.
At this week's meeting of the Korean Labor Party, leader Kim Jong-un said the fight against Covid-19 was "an important state issue to protect the people, requiring maximum discipline". and warned that the Covid-19 epidemic would lead to serious consequences if an outbreak in North Korea.
The Covid-19 outbreak began in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province in China in December, and has now appeared in 64 countries and territories. The epidemic has infected nearly 87,000 people, nearly 3,000 died worldwide. South Korea, a neighboring country of North Korea, is currently the world's second largest outbreak with more than 3,500 cases and 17 deaths.
