North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has placed one city in lockdown over fears the country has its first coronavirus case.
He believed “the vicious virus” may have entered the country after a resident in Kaesong, on the border with South Korea, displayed suspected COVID-19 symptoms,
According to reports, the lockdown was declared on Friday afternoon and, if it is confirmed, a positive test result would be the North’s first official coronavirus case since the start of the global pandemic.
North Korea has repeatedly said it has no virus cases on its territory, a claim that has been questioned by foreign experts.
Newsmen reported that the individual with suspected COVID-19 was a runaway who had fled to South Korea years ago before illegally crossing the border into the North early last week.
According to reports, the person’s respiratory secretion and blood tests showed they were suspected to have been infected.
The report said they took “the preemptive measure of totally blocking Kaesong City and isolating each district and region from the other within 24 July afternoon just after receiving the report on it.
The suspected case and others who were in contact, as well as those who have been to Kaesong in the last five days, were reportedly placed under quarantine.
The North has described its anti-virus efforts as a “matter of national existence”.
Earlier this year, the country shut down nearly all cross-border traffic, banned foreign tourists and mobilised health workers to quarantine anyone with symptoms.
