Four ‘fever cases’ announced by North Korea weeks after declaring victory from Covid

North Korean leader had declared victory against Covid-19 on 10 August

In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un shakes hands with a health official in Pyongyang, North Korea, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2022. Kim declared victory over Covid-19 and ordered an easing of preventive measures (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)

North Korea on Thursday recorded four new “fever cases,” just two weeks after Kim Jong-un declared victory over Covid.

KCNA reported that health workers immediately locked down the area where the four cases of “malignant epidemic” were found. The North often uses that term, along with “malignant virus,” to describe Covid-19.

The four samples were taken from the Ryanggang province, local media reported.

The local news outlet also reported that the authorities dispatched experts to the area while taking measures to track and monitor those who came into contact with the suspected patients.

Interestingly, on 10 August, Mr Kim declared victory in the country’s fight against the novel coronavirus, lifting the maximum anti-epidemic measures.

“Since we began operating the maximum emergency anti-epidemic campaign (in May), daily fever cases that reached hundreds of thousands during the early days of the outbreak were reduced to below 90,000 a month later and continuously decreased, and not a single case of fever suspected to be linked to the evil virus has been reported since July 29,” Mr Kim said in his speech at the time, according to KCNA.

“For a country that has yet to administer a single vaccine shot, our success in overcoming the spread of the illness in such a short period of time and recovering safety in public health and making our nation a clean virus-free zone again is an amazing miracle that would be recorded in the world’s history of public health,” he added.

At the time, experts had suggested that Mr Kim’s victory statement signals his aim to move to other priorities, including a possible nuclear test.

North Korea reported about 4.8 million “fever cases” across its mostly unvaccinated population of 26 million in May but only identified a fraction of them as Covid. It claimed just 74 people have died, which experts see as an abnormally small number considering the country’s lack of public health tools.