• A health official sprays disinfectant as part of preventative measures against COVID-19, in the Daesong Department Store in Pyongyang last September. North Korea on Thursday confirmed its first-ever case of this virus, with state media declaring it a 'severe national emergency incident' after more than two years of purportedly keeping the pandemic at bay. | AFP-JIJI
    A health official sprays disinfectant as part of preventative measures against COVID-19, in the Daesong Department Store in Pyongyang last September. North Korea on Thursday confirmed its first-ever case of this virus, with state media declaring it a "severe national emergency incident" after more than two years of purportedly keeping the pandemic at bay. | AFP-JIJI
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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered all cities to be put under lockdown after the state for the first time Thursday said it has COVID-19 in its borders.

"A serious situation has been created due to the introduction of a stealth omicron mutant virus into our precincts,” its official Korean Central News Agency said. At a party meeting attended by Kim, authorities elevated the country’s national quarantine measures to "maximum emergency,” it added.

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