蜜芽传媒

It's hard to know exactly what is going on in the secretive state of North Korea at the best of times. Over the last couple of years, Pyongyang insisted it had no Covid cases, despite the pandemic affecting the rest of the globe.

No longer.

It has now publicly acknowledged its first outbreak, of the highly contagious Omicron variant, with state media describing the situation as a "grave national emergency."

Chad O'Carroll, CEO of Korea Risk Group in Seoul in neighbouring South Korea has been closely monitoring the situation north of the border.

"North Korea has not vaccinated anyone... they have very few means to defend against this so it is at risk of spreading like wildfire. North Koreans, in normal times, are already very [malnourished] so there are a lot of vulnerable people here who would be at risk candidates of serious health problems if they get Omicron. So their only tactic left... is lockdowns but that only works if you're testing every single day."

(Pic: Passengers wear face masks inside a trolley bus in Pyongyang before official recognition of a Covid outbreak in North Korea; Credit: Reuters)

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