North Korea reports first Covid outbreak
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A first public admission of Covid infections in North Korea could signal a looming crisis for a nation that has refused to vaccinate its population
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May 12, 2022: Kim Jong-un presides over Workers’ Party meeting 

“THE STATE’S MOST SERIOUS EMERGENCY HAS OCCURRED”

May 12, 2022: Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) says samples taken on May 8 from people in Pyongyang, who were experiencing fevers, showed infections of sub-variant of Omicron virus

CHINA
NORTH KOREA
Pyongyang 
Seoul
SOUTH KOREA
200km 120 miles

Up until Mar 31: According to World Health Organisation (WHO), 64,207 North Koreans* had been tested for Covid-19 – all negatively

Mar 24-31: 1,405 people given PCR tests

122 people show signs of influenza-like illness or severe acute respiratory infections

570 health care workers

Work with cargo at border areas

1,405 tests
1,405 tests

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NEIGHBOURING COUNTRIES HAVE SEEN RECENT SPIKES IN CASES

00 40 30 20 10

Jan 24, 2020 
May 10, 2022

Feb 20, 2020
May 10, 2022


500 400 300 200 100 0

CHINA
7-day average, 1,000s of cases (both charts)
 
SOUTH KOREA 
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Sources: Reuters, WHO, KCNA *N. Korea population: 26 million Picture: KCNA
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