“A respiratory disease”.
This is how North Korea justified a five-day confinement in its capital Pyongyang, reported a specialized South Korean site.
The move appears to be the first citywide measure taken since the country declared "victory" over Covid-19 in August 2022.
Residents of Pyongyang have been ordered to stay at home from Wednesday to Sunday and must submit to multiple temperature readings each day, Seoul-based NK News reported, citing a government document.
Siberian cold
This text does not mention the Covid-19 but affirms that the cold is among the new diseases which are currently spreading in the capital.
Citing sources in Pyongyang, NK News said on Tuesday that residents of North Korea's largest city appeared to be stocking up for a possible lockdown.
It is not known if other territories are affected by similar confinements and state media have not announced any new measures.
The Korean Peninsula is currently in the throes of what meteorologists describe as a Siberian cold snap, with temperatures in Pyongyang dropping as low as -22C.
China, trading partner and neighbor
China, a key trading partner and neighbor of North Korea, is facing a wave of infections after it ended its drastic "zero Covid" policy.
North Korea has strictly closed its borders since the start of the pandemic, but allows certain trade with China.
Pyongyang announced its very first Covid case in May 2022, before declaring victory over the disease three months later.
Worst healthcare system in the world
The World Health Organization has long cast doubt on Pyongyang's Covid statistics and the country's claims that the outbreak is under control.
North Korea has one of the worst health systems in the world, according to experts, with poorly equipped hospitals, few intensive care units and no treatment for Covid-19.
According to specialized sources, Pyongyang has not vaccinated its approximately 25 million inhabitants.
Other information indicates that the country would have received vaccines from China.
