Russia has provided North Korea with 1500 kits designed to provide “rapid” diagnosis of the novel coronavirus, the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said in a statement Wednesday, as Pyongyang seeks foreign help in preventing a potential epidemic within its territory.
In a shipment reportedly made on the request of DPRK authorities, the Russian foreign ministry said the country had “transferred 1,500 test systems for rapid laboratory diagnostics of this type of coronavirus to Pyongyang.”
“We hope that this step will help improve the ability to prevent the spread of the disease in North Korea,” an MFA statement said.
No further details of how the kits will be transported to the DPRK were given, nor why North Korean authorities had felt the need to request the aid this week — over a month since the country first began taking precautions to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, known officially as COVID-2019, within its territory.
North Korea has repeatedly insisted that it is yet to detect any cases of the virus, which originated in central China but is now reported to have infected 78,064 people across the globe and 1300 across the inter-Korean border in the South.
The DPRK has in recent weeks implemented strict quarantine and hygiene-related measures in the face of the threat, imposing a 30-day quarantine, cautioning against public gatherings, closing down air and land transport, and placing diplomats in Pyongyang under a virtual house arrest.
Despite these measures, as-yet-unconfirmed reports have suggested that the virus may have already made it to the DPRK, with NK Newsunderstanding from multiple sources that it is said to have spread to the Sino-DPRK border city of Sinuiju and that consequently the area has been cordoned off from the rest of the country.
Experts largely agree that North Korea remains uniquely susceptible to a major epidemic, given the dilapidated state of its healthcare sector and the widespread malnutrition faced by its people.
Edited by James Fretwell
Russia has provided North Korea with 1500 kits designed to provide "rapid" diagnosis of the novel coronavirus, the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said in a statement Wednesday, as Pyongyang seeks foreign help in preventing a potential epidemic within its territory.
In a shipment reportedly made on the request of DPRK authorities, the Russian foreign ministry said the country had "transferred 1,500 test systems for rapid laboratory diagnostics of this type of coronavirus to Pyongyang."
