Kim Jong-un, the dictator of North Korea, has personally assumed the reins of the country's strategy against covid-19 and has mobilized the Army, after launching a frontal attack on the management carried out by his own cabinet and the health authorities. for its slow response to the crisis.
The world has been dealing with the pandemic for two years, but North Korea, one of the world's most isolated dictatorships, only acknowledged the first outbreak of coronavirus last Thursday, when it decreed a total confinement.
The North Korean leader has ordered the mobilization of the Army to guarantee the distribution of the necessary medical supplies to stop the advance of omicron, especially in the capital, Pyongyang.
According to official data, the covid has killed 50 people and it is estimated that there are more than 1.21 million infections,
As is often the case in issues that attract great media attention, Kim Jong-un, the top leader of the most hermetic dictatorship on the planet, has been seen as the leader of the anticovid strategy, recalling that, in times of crisis, he is always ready to take the step forward and look for immediate solutions.
According to the state news agency KCNA, on Sunday, during the last emergency meeting of the leadership of the Workers' Party, Kim reproached the health authorities and senior government officials for their "irresponsible attitude" for "not having rolled up their sleeves to serve to town".
The North Korean president criticized that, despite having issued an "emergency order to supply state reserves of medicines immediately" and another "for pharmacies to operate 24 hours a day", medicines are scarce and are not being adopted. correctly the necessary protocols to contain the spread of the virus.
The president also charged the prosecution for not legally supervising these processes and, given this accumulation of errors, he left the supply of medicines in Pyongyang in the hands of the Central Military Commission, which will be carried out through the medical channels of the Army.
North Korea, which has been closed since February 2020 (when China decreed the confinement of Wuhan), had not reported any cases of coronavirus in these two and a half years of the pandemic.
The authorities detected the presence of the omicron variant after carrying out tests on May 8 on patients "with a fever whose cause could not be identified."
The origin of the outbreak is unknown, although some analysts believe that the military parade to mark the 90th anniversary of the founding of its Armed Forces, held on April 25 and attended by tens of thousands of people, could have been a super contagious event.
Shortage of means and no vaccines
Due to the limited capacity that this nation of 25 million people has to carry out tests, state media use the term “people with fever” instead of “covid patients” or “confirmed cases”.
According to information published this Monday by KCNA, 392,920 potential cases were detected on Sunday, so that since the end of April the number of possible infections has risen to 1.21 million.
According to this news agency, at least 564,860 patients are receiving treatment, while more than 648,630 have recovered.
Eight more people died on Sunday, bringing the total number of deaths to fifty.
The situation is especially worrying because of how contagious the omicron variant has proven to be and because outside the capital city, the country lacks sophisticated medical equipment.
Despite the fact that since the morning of May 12 "all provinces, cities and counties" have been totally confined, North Korea has neither vaccines against covid nor a national inoculation plan.
In 2021, the regime rejected offers of international assistance coming from China and the World Health Organization's Covax program.
Although the North Korean authorities have not officially made any request for help, the South Korean news agency Yonhap reports on Monday that Pyongyang would have requested assistance from Beijing on Sunday through its diplomatic channels.
The border between North Korea and the Asian giant remains completely armored, but could be partially opened if both sides reach an aid agreement.
Kim has already expressed on several occasions that his country was willing to learn from China's management strategy against covid, the only large economy that continues to cling to its zero covid policy, which is based on massive testing, centralized quarantines and lockdowns.
The one in Shanghai, where 25 million people remain locked up at home, will last until June 1, as reported by China this Sunday.
The concern in North Korea has to do with the effects that a massive confinement may have on the population.
The regime has recognized economic problems caused by the closure of borders to isolate itself from the pandemic, as well as experiencing food shortages linked to natural disasters, a situation aggravated by international sanctions against its weapons program that have drowned the country for years.
For his part, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol publicly offered Friday to send vaccines and other medical supplies to his northern neighbor.
The new head of government meets next Saturday with his American counterpart, Joe Biden, with whom he will possibly discuss this matter.
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