[ad_1]
Seoul, South Korea:
North Korean authorities have imposed a lockdown on the border metropolis of Kaesong after discovering what they referred to as the nation’s first suspected case of the novel coronavirus, state media reported Sunday.
Leader Kim Jong Un convened an emergency politburo assembly on Saturday to implement a “maximum emergency system and issue a top-class alert” to include the virus, official information company KCNA stated.
If confirmed, it will be the primary formally recognised COVID-19 case within the North the place medical infrastructure is seen as woefully insufficient for coping with any epidemic.
KCNA stated a defector who had left for the South three years in the past returned on July 19 after “illegally crossing” the closely fortified border dividing the nations.
But there have been no reviews within the South of anybody leaving by what is likely one of the world’s most safe borders, replete with minefields and guard posts.
Pyongyang has beforehand insisted not a single case of the coronavirus had been seen within the North regardless of the sickness having swept the globe, and the nation’s borders stay closed.
The affected person was present in Kaesong City, which borders the South, and “was put under strict quarantine”, as would anyone who had are available shut contact, state media stated.
It was a “dangerous situation… that may lead to a deadly and destructive disaster”, the media outlet added.
Kim was quoted as saying “the vicious virus could be said to have entered the country”, and officers on Friday took the “preemptive measure of totally blocking Kaesong City”.
The nuclear-armed North closed its borders in late January because the virus unfold in neighbouring China and imposed powerful restrictions that put 1000’s of its individuals into isolation, however analysts say the North is unlikely to have averted the contagion.
South Korea is at the moment recording round 40 to 60 circumstances a day.
Earlier this month Kim warned in opposition to any “hasty” rest of anti-coronavirus measures, indicating the nation will preserve its borders closed for the foreseeable future.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV workers and is printed from a syndicated feed.)
[ad_2]
Source hyperlink