COVID-19 cases soar in North Korea

North Korea reported another spike in suspected COVID-19 cases, the highest in the last three days, state media reported Monday.

According to the state emergency epidemic prevention headquarters, North Korea recorded 100,710 fever cases during the past 24 hours, bringing the suspected COVID-19 cases to over 3.54 million, Korean Central News Agency reported.

So far 3.36 million patients have recovered, while 70 people lost their lives since late April.

North Korea is among the few countries that did not report any cases since the pandemic began more than two years ago. Earlier this month, North Korea confirmed its first cases of COVID-19 in the country and imposed a nationwide lockdown.

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.