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North Korea tested its first suspected case for coronavirus, but the results were inconclusive, according to Dr. Edwin Salavor, the World Health Organization Representative to North Korea.
Salvador said that North Korea’s Ministry of Public Health had informed WHO of a suspected case of Covid-19 in Kaesong City.
WHO did not conduct the test in North Korea.
Extensive contact tracing is ongoing, with as many as 64 “first contacts” and 3,571 “secondary contacts” identified. They will be quarantined in government facilities for 40 days, said the statement.
Kaesong City has been placed under lockdown from July 19, and contacts of residents who traveled outside the city between July 19-24 are being traced.
Salvador did not offer more details on why the test results had been ruled inconclusive. “WHO has requested DPR Korea to share more information about the suspected case,” he told CNN, using North Korea’s official name.
Since the start of the year, North Korea has quarantined and discharged 25,905 people — 382 foreigners and 25,523 of its citizens.
Official warnings: An article in the North Korean newspaper Rodong Sinmun called upon citizens to “firmly defend the security of the country and the people” by following pandemic rules, according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency.
“Even one or two men’s carelessness and breach of acting rules and principle in the anti-epidemic work may lead to critical consequences,” said the article, KCNA reported.
