North Korea’s COVID-19 quarantine efforts appear to be full of holes
North Korean authorities are neither isolating suspected cases of COVID-19 nor properly treating them in some regions of the country. A source said locals are criticizing this by asking whether even COVID-19 quarantine efforts are now exercises in “self-reliance.”
Authorities stopped isolating patients suspected of COVID-19 or giving them medicine in Hoeryong from Jan. 15. “Now it seems they only check for high fevers,” he explained. “They’ve totally given up on providing proper treatment.”
There are nine quarantine facilities in North Korea where suspected cases of COVID-19 are isolated, with one each in Hwanghae Province, Pyongan Province, North Hamgyong Province, South Hamgyong Province, Yanggang Province, Chagang Province, Gangwon Province, Nampo and Rason.
However, the source said that even at these facilities, patients are simply isolated; they receive neither diagnosis nor treatment. From the new year, even this has apparently collapsed, with one sensing that COVID-19 has become a matter for “self-reliance.”
From the middle of January, regional doctors have been visiting families once or twice a day, from 9:30 to 10:00 in the morning or from 3:00 to 5:00 in the afternoon. They check for fever or other symptoms, reporting the results to local hospitals and quarantine stations. ......
[Source: Daily NK]
