North Korea's Covid-19 figures are soaring and with them the anger of ruler Kim Jong-un. The dictator is apparently fed up with the incompetence of his authorities and is sending in the military.
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It’s not the first time Kim Jong-un has displayed such a reaction to the apparent incompetence of others. He previously punished his gardeners by imprisoning them for six months when they failed to make his flowers bloom.
COVID strikes North Korea
Currently, the constantly rising number of Covid patients in North Korea is concerning. While in many parts of the world the pandemic is abating and even the mask requirement is being lifted, North Korea is currently struggling with over 1.2 million patients with fever symptoms and 50 dead within a few days, as RP Online reports.
This seems to be enough for Kim Jong-un. He reprimanded the health authorities for their ‘irresponsible work attitude’ and ‘imprudent’ way of working, according to the state news agency KCNA as reported by RP online.
Kim Jong-un lashes out
North Korea has remained closed off since the beginning of the pandemic, with media reporting only an ‘epidemic.' With the population virtually unvaccinated, Covid-19 is spreading rapidly with the first detected Omicron infection last week, Focus reports.
In the new Politburo emergency meeting, Kim Jong-un criticised the distribution of the drugs. Because of the ‘explosive spread of a fever’, North Korea releasedstate reserves of fever-reducing drugs and antibiotics to be quickly distributed to pharmacies. These in turn will remain open around the clock on a shift system.
The military has been tasked with distributing the drugs. Moreover, a lockdown has been imposed and the government is keeping track of infected patients. No matter the profession, if a person is found infected with the virus they will immediately be sent into quarantine. There are more than 560,000 people in quarantine at the moment.
This article has been translated from GentsideDE.
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