Catastrophe unfolds in North Korea as COVID-19 runs rampant

John Maytham interviews international correspondent Adam Gilchrist.

... They were for a long time denying that COVID has existed; that they had no cases… But they’re not able to maintain that pretence…

John Maytham, presenter - CapeTalk

North Korea is suffering an extreme COVID-19 outbreak.

The country is one of only two countries (the other being Eritrea, another totalitarian state) in the world without a mass vaccination campaign against COVID-19.

The population has almost no immunity from infection as it hermetically sealed itself off from the world at the start of the pandemic.

Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un has ordered extreme, nationwide lockdowns and deployed the army to enforce them.

North Korea has announced millions of cases of “fever” in the week since announcing its first COVID-19 case.

It is a poor country with a dysfunctional healthcare system.

John Maytham interviewed international correspondent Adam Gilchrist (scroll up to listen – skip to 4:37).

Daily figures are now running to 200 000+, although official North Korean media tells us it’s just a fever. They don’t use the word ‘COVID-19’… North Koreans are told to gargle saltwater and drink willow tea three times a day… as a treatment and cure…

Adam Gilchrist, international correspondent

If Kim Jong Un doesn’t accept vaccinations from outside… many people will die… It may be that he requires Chinese help, or watch hundreds of thousands of North Koreans perish…

Adam Gilchrist, international correspondent

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