SEOUL (Reuters) – The North Korean Red Cross has deployed 43,000 volunteers to help communities prevent coronavirus outbreaks and provide flood relief, an official with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said in a statement. Monday.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un declared a state of emergency last month and laid siege to Kaesong, near the inter-Korean border, after a man who moved to the South in 2017 returned to the city with symptoms of coronavirus.
Heavy rains and floods in recent days have also raised concerns about crop damage and food supplies in the isolated country.
The North Korean National Red Cross Society is the only organization with access to all nine provinces, and more than 43,000 volunteers have worked alongside health teams on COVID-19 prevention efforts and assisted in flood relief work, IFRC said Antony Balmain.
“Hundreds of homes have been damaged and large areas of rice fields have been submerged due to heavy rain and some flash floods,” Balmain said.
Precipitation levels in the North this month were higher than in 2007 when the country suffered its worst flooding, said a spokesman for the Ministry of Union of Seoul, which oversees inter-Korean affairs.
In Kaesong, which had to deal with both storage and flooding, Red Cross volunteers sought out 2,100 families most at risk with relief items including tarpaulins, kitchen sets, quilts, hygiene kits and water containers, Balmain said.
“Families are supported with psychological activities for first aid and awareness to maintain hygiene and stay healthy,” he added.
Kim has also sent special aid packages to Kaesong, and state media reported Monday that Pyongyang grain supplies had arrived in another province flooded by the past, which he visited last week.
North Korea has not confirmed any cases of coronavirus, but has maintained strict quarantine measures. South Korea has said there is no evidence that the return defector was infected.
The North Korean Red Cross received kits designed last month to perform up to 10,000 coronavirus tests, in addition to infrared thermometers, surgical masks, coats and protective gear.
In South Korea, at least 32 people have died after 49 days of monsoon rains, the longest since the country, causing floods, landslides and evacuations.
(This story corrects headings and paragraphs 1,7 and 11, and replaces paragraph 4, to account for the fact that the volunteers are from North Korea’s Red Cross Society, not the IFRC.)
Report by Hyonhee Shin; Edited by Stephen Coates and Kevin Liffey
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