North Korea has reported 21 more deaths as it continues to suffer from the first covid wave.
North Korea has reported 175,000 new cases and 21 have died from “fever” as the east Asian nation grapples with the first wave of Covid 19. North Korean president, Kim Jong Un, has accepted that the country is going through a covid outbreak and called it a “great disaster “.
President Kim called a meeting to discuss the strategy to fight with the Covid. There he described the outbreak as ”Huge disruption” and asked for unity between government and people.
The South Korean government has offered to provide the Covid vaccine to North Korea but North Korea has not accepted the offer so far.
North Korea has been denying the presence of Covid cases since the beginning of the pandemic. North Koreans have followed a strict policy of isolation from the rest of the world to avert any Covid wave. North Korea lacks proper health infrastructure, if not contained this Covid wave would wreak havoc in the country.
The country has announced a national emergency just after reporting of its first Covid case. Kim Jong un is likely to follow the Chinese strategy to combat the virus. “We should take lessons from the experiences and fruitful achievements in preventing virus of the China’s communist party and its people,” said President Kim.
North Korea doesn’t have access to vaccines and there is no evidence of natural immunity among people as government maintains there have not been any cases of coronavirus. And given North Korea’s lack of health infrastructure, it totally could be the case that they are not testing enough to get the idea of real numbers.
The country has accepted that there are some Omicron cases and at least one person has died. Kim, as the Leader of the country, has tried do something from his side by giving up supplies stored at his home.
There is no sophisticated data about the number of cases, testing and mortality rate. There have been around 5 lakh cases since the late April.
Can North Korea deal with a Covid wave?
There is no transparency in North Korea. It is rather unbelievable that in the last two year there has not been a single case of the corona. Speculations are that it became impossible to deny the presence of Covid which may have prompted the government to accept the deadly wave.
North Korea is in a precarious situation right now. Hong min, an analyst at Koreas institute for national unification, has said that North Korea doesn’t have the material capability to adopt Zero Covid strategy which requires extreme coordination, advanced technology and an economy to bear the burden of a harsh lockdown.
The Chinese government has commented that they are ready to help but there has not been request yet.
Ballistic adventure of North Korea simultaneously
North Korea is simultaneously test-firing ballistic missiles, it’s hard to gauge if it’s a show of power in moments of chaos or there is a strategy to test nuclear missiles.
North Korea has been aggressively testing missiles lately, threatening South Korean security. Experts are of the opinion that North Korea is going to do a nuclear test very soon.
Conclusion
Publication of Covid data from the North Korean side could be a cry for help. They may have been facing the covid for a long time. Even if that is not the case the world should come forward as autocratic rulers are intolerant to the misery of their public. North Korean leaders may seek natural immunity at the cost of some lives.
If the outbreak is not dealt properly, it will trigger the already existing food shortage and disrupt the supply chain. This could turn into a major catastrophe. The world must come together to avert the pain of fellow humans.
Edited By: Aaradhana Singh
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