North Korea Reports More Than 18,000 COVID-19 Cases in Country, Eight Fatalities - Reports

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - North Korea has so far registered more than 18,000 COVID-19 cases in the country, with eight fatalities, the Yonhap news agency reported on Friday, citing North Korean state media.

On Thursday, North Korea reported the first case of COVID-19 in the country. North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un described the situation as a sudden emergency and announced a lockdown.

Overall, an outbreak of an unknown fever has hit some 350,000 people in North Korea, according to a separate Yonhap report. Of that number, more than 162,000 patients have been reportedly isolated and treated so far.

It is unknown, however, whether this fever is linked to COVID-19, whose outbreak is currently being reported by Pyongyang.

Also on Thursday, footage of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un wearing a medical mask emerged in DPRK state media. As can be seen in the footage, Kim appears to be wearing a simple blue-and-white medical mask, though he removed it while speaking to members of the Politburo.

Earlier, Kim said that an emergency situation arose in the DPRK due to the omicron variant of the novel coronavirus, and he ordered his government at all levels to work impeccably to stop the spread of the disease.

In particular, he ordered a lockdown of the counties and cities of the country.

After the news emerged about the virus outbreak in the isolated country, China and South Korea declared their readiness to provide all necessary assistance to North Korea in the fight against COVID-19.

From the beginning of the pandemic to this day, North Korea has declared that there have been no cases of coronavirus in the country at all.