The DPRK faces severe epidemic The military has stepped up the distribution of anti-epidemic drugs

With nearly 1.5m “fever” cases, north Korea’s military “has urgently and forcefully deployed at all pharmacies in Pyongyang and started supplying medicine”, according to the official KCNA news agency. Meanwhile, multiple sources told Yonhap news agency that three planes of Air Koryo, the DPRK’s state-run airline, arrived at China’s Taoxian International Airport on the morning of May 16 to load medicine and returned to the DPRK in the afternoon.

North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-un has ordered a nationwide lockdown to try to stop the spread of Novel Coronavirus, the first official confirmation of Omikron infection in Pyongyang on Thursday, the report said.

Hundreds of North Korean soldiers in camouflage gathered in Pyongyang, the capital, to “urgently support all pharmacies in Pyongyang and start providing medicine,” according to photos released by the Korean Central News Agency.

Mr. Kim on Monday sharply criticized the government and health authorities for their handling of the outbreak, particularly for failing to keep pharmacies open around the clock. He said the outbreak was causing “huge upheaval” in the country.

According to the same source, since the emergence of the Novel Coronavirus in the DPRK, the authorities have reported over 1.48 million cases of “fever” and 56 deaths, with “at least 663,910 people being treated”.

Agence France-Presse noted that Kim Jong-un’s public criticism shows that the situation in North Korea is very serious indeed. North Korea has so far refused to accept vaccine offers from China and the WORLD Health Organization. Following the discovery of the Omikron case, both Beijing and South Korea have again offered to supply the Pyongyang regime with vaccines.

According to Yonhap News Agency, amid the spread of COVID-19 in the DPRK, three planes of Air Koryo, the state airline of the DPRK, arrived at Shenyang Taoxian International Airport in China on the morning of the previous day and returned to the DPRK in the afternoon.

It is the first time in two years and four months that an Air Koryo plane has visited Shenyang since North Korea closed the country for quarantine in January 2020. According to sources, the plane was only loaded with medical supplies and no Chinese personnel were on board. According to the DPRK’s request for COVID-19 supplies from China, it is speculated that the DPRK may have shipped back novel Coronavirus medicines from China.

According to a source, north Korea has faced many constraints in receiving aid via land transportation amid the pandemic, and choosing air transportation is aimed at making it faster