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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un held an urgent meeting of the political bureau on Saturday that decided “to implement a high-level emergency system and declare a high-level threat” to curb the virus, the official KCNA news agency reported.
If the suspicious case is confirmed, it will be the first officially recognized case of COVID-19 in North Korea, where the health care infrastructure is considered completely inadequate to combat any epidemic.
According to the KCNA, the coronavirus allegations arose after investigating a fugitive who had left for South Korea three years ago but returned to North Korea on July 19, “illegally crossing” a closely guarded border between the two countries.
However, it has not been recently reported that anyone in South Korea crosses one of the safest borders in the world.
Pyongyang previously stated that so far no case of coronavirus has been detected in North Korea, despite the fact that the infection has spread worldwide, and that the country’s borders remain closed.
The patient, whose findings are not entirely clear, was found in Kesong, near the border with South Korea, and “under strict quarantine,” the KCNA reported.
All persons with whom you have had contact will also be identified and all persons who have been in the city for the past five days will be inspected.
It is a “dangerous situation … that could lead to a fatal … disaster,” the news agency noted.
Kim Jong Un said at a political bureau meeting, according to the KCNA, that “a malicious virus can be said to have entered the country,” and officials on Friday took “preventive measures to completely block the city of Kesong.”
North Korea, which has nuclear weapons, closed its borders in late January when a coronavirus spread to neighboring China.
Pyongyang has imposed severe restrictions that have isolated thousands of people, but analysts say the country has barely been able to avoid infection.
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