North Korea has released 1710 people previously under government-mandated quarantine over fears of the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), state media reported on Friday, among them 70 foreigners.

“Along with strengthening the isolation and medical observation on the foreigners entering our country, an additional 70 such subjects — who are not showing suspected symptoms — were released from isolation,” the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) and party daily the Rodong Sinmun reported on Friday.

“Around 990 people in North Phyongan province, and 720 in South Phyongan province, were released from isolation,” KCNA added, with the Rodong adding that those released will remain under medical observation for 30 days.

Authorities have confirmed that “[they] do not have symptoms suspected to be virus infection,” the party daily explained, praising the country’s “super-special quarantine measure.”

The news brings the known number of people released from quarantine in North Korea to 5360.

State media previously reported that a total of 3650 people in Kangwon and Jagang provinces had been released from “medical observation.”

9950 people in total have been reported by the country’s state media to have been under quarantine, of which over half have now been released.

It remains unclear, however, how many are under medical observation, and have been released, in other provinces. 89 expatriates appear to still be under quarantine.

State reports Friday come amid other steps suggesting that the DPRK is increasingly confident that the threat from COVID-19 is under control — at least for the time being.

Russia’s embassy to the DPRK yesterday announced that North Korean authorities have partially relaxed regulations on diplomats resident in Pyongyang, with resident foreigners now allowed to travel outside their compounds and visit locations such as Daesong and Ragwon department stores.

But controls on goods coming into the country remain tough, with KCNA reporting Friday that cargo entering the DPRK “through the border and the ports” is being quarantined and isolated for 10 days before “transferring them to relevant units.”

The Rodong Sinmun has in the past two days carried a series of articles on rules and regulations regarding “imported items,” summarizing the content of a guidebook reportedly redistributed by state organs.

The guidebook, titled “Manual on Disinfecting and Handling Items Coming in from Other Countries,” details the type and quantity of disinfectants that must be used in quarantining imported items.

“Import-export examination and quarantine officials, mobilized for disinfection work at the ports and border-crossing areas, must wear personal protective equipment such as personal protective suits, protective goggles, masks, and sanitary gloves,” it reportedly instructs.

The Rodong Sinmun today carried part two of the series, which insists that items that crossed the border on different dates must not be left in the same storage.

It also said that “items that are supposed to leave the ship through the oil pipeline do not go through disinfection, and should be fed into the relevant tank or freight carriage directly.”

North Korean media on Friday also continued to promote ways to fight the novel coronavirus, as well as a domestic push for the production and sale of personal protective equipment needed to prevent the spread of the virus.

Arirang Meari, an externally-focused state media outlet, reported that “health masks” with “strong anti-bacterial, anti-viral features… that purifies polluted air such as harmful gases and dust” are being sold in stores “in Pyongyang and many regions in the DPRK.”

Edited by Oliver Hotham