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.
Kim ordered "all cities and counties across the country to thoroughly lockdown their areas,” so as to "completely block the transmission of malicious virus,” according to KCNA.