North Korea reported more than 200,000 new patients suffering from fever for a fifth consecutive day, as it fought its first confirmed coronavirus outbreak.
The ongoing Covid-19 wave, declared last week, has fuelled concerns over a lack of vaccines, inadequate medical infrastructure and a potential food crisis in the country of 25 million, which has refused outside help and kept its borders shut.
At least 219,030 people newly showed fever symptoms as of Friday evening, taking the total number of such cases to 2,460,640, the official KCNA news agency reported, citing data from the state emergency epidemic prevention headquarters.
The death toll rose by one to 66. KCNA did not say how many people had tested positive for the virus. In a separate report, KCNA said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had held a meeting of the ruling Workers' Party's powerful politburo early today to check the Covid-19 situation and responses made over the nine days since the outbreak emerged.