North Korea reports 6 new COVID deaths as military mobilized for supplies

FILE PHOTO: People wearing protective face masks commute amid concerns over the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Pyongyang, North Korea March 30, 2020, in this photo released by Kyodo. Picture taken March 30, 2020. Mandatory credit Kyodo/via REUTERS

SEOUL — North Korea reported six new deaths amid a COVID-19 wave, as the country’s military was mobilized to distribute medical supplies, state media KCNA said on Tuesday.

The state emergency epidemic prevention headquarters reported 269,510 more people with fever symptoms, bringing the total to 1,483,060, while the death toll grew to 56 as of Monday evening, KCNA said. It did not say how many people have tested positive for COVID-19.

“A powerful force” of the army’s medical corps was dispatched to improve the supply of medicines in the capital Pyongyang, the center of the country’s first acknowledged epidemic, a day after leader Kim Jong Un ordered its immediate deployment.

KCNA said the team’s mission was aimed at “defusing the public health crisis prevailing over the capital city of Pyongyang,” calling it vital to the ongoing anti-epidemic campaign.

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