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North Korea mobilises army to fight Covid in footage aired on state TV

Telegraph, 18 May 2022
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North Korean military medics ramped up the distribution of medicines to fight a growing coronavirus outbreak, state media said on Tuesday, with the number of reported cases of "fever" nearing 1.5 million.

Leader Kim Jong Un has ordered nationwide lockdowns to try and slow the spread of the disease through the unvaccinated population, and deployed the military after what he has called a botched response to the outbreak.

Hundreds of personnel in camouflage uniforms from the Korean People's Army medical units were seen rallying in the capital Pyongyang in photos released by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

The military "urgently deployed its powerful forces to all pharmacies in Pyongyang City and began to supply medicines under the 24-hour service system", KCNA said.

Kim had strongly criticised healthcare officials for their failure to keep pharmacies open. North Korea's leader has put himself front and centre of the country's Covid response since its first case was announced last week, saying the outbreak is causing "great upheaval".

Authorities had reported more than 1.48 million cases of "fever" as of Monday evening, KCNA said, with the death toll at 56. "At least 663,910 are under medical treatment," said the agency.

Read more: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/quite-distressing-bad-could-get-north-korea-could-face-major/

#northkorea #covid #armymedics

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