Worshippers, priests wear masks during Mass service in Pyongyang

(Russian Embassy in Pyongyang Facebook page)

SEOUL — Russia’s Embassy in North Korea has released photos showing all priests and worshippers wearing masks during a recent Mass service at a Russian Orthodox church in Pyongyang in an indication that the country is on high alert for the coronavirus.

“The service was carried out in compliance with all necessary precautions … the parishioners who were quarantined and those attending the mass wore masks and the rituals were performed in sanitary conditions,” the embassy said in a post Monday on its official Facebook page.

The Mass was held a day earlier at Holy Trinity Church, the first Russian Orthodox Church to be built in Pyongyang.

North Korea has not reported any case of COVID-19 virus infection, but it has called for nationwide efforts to prevent the virus from breaking out on its soil through intensified border controls and a tightened quarantine process.

Concerns are lingering that North Korea could be vulnerable as it shares a long and porous border with China, and lacks key medical supplies and the infrastructure to test and treat infected people. (Yonhap)