North Korea reports 270,000 new 'fever' cases in suspected COVID outbreak

ANKARA (AA) - North Korea has reported nearly 270,000 more cases of "fever" and six related fatalities over the past day in a suspected COVID-19 outbreak.

The figures were released Tuesday by state media KCNA, however, North Korea has refused to link the rising cases with coronavirus-like symptoms to the pandemic.

After the initial cases were reported in April, the case count reached 1.48 million, with 56 deaths.

So far, 819,090 people have recovered and some 663,910 are under treatment.

The government has ordered pharmacies to remain open 24 hours a day and deployed the army to assist in the supply of medicines.

North Korea is among the few countries which did not report any cases since the pandemic began more than two years ago.

North Korea’s prevention strategy relied on a complete border shutdown since January 2020.

The World Health Organization has no records of any COVID-19 vaccinations in the country of 25 million, with Pyongyang having turned down repeated offers of vaccine supplies from the international community.

*Writing by Islamuddin Sajid