COVID-19 infection cases reach frightening levels in North Korea

North Korea's COVID outbreak, described as a "great upheaval" by the nation's leader, Kim Jong-un, has grown to frightening levels as state media reported an accumulated 1.4 million "fever" cases in the past weeks.

Pyongyang publicized the surge in Omicron cases on May 12—the country's first acknowledged outbreak more than two years into the pandemic—but infections may have been spreading silently for some time because of a lack of testing capacity, Newsweek reports.

As of 6 p.m. local time on May 16, North Korea had recorded 269,510 new patients afflicted with "fever," the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said on Tuesday, while the death toll rose to 56.

The total number of those with fever—among the more common symptoms of COVID—had reached 1,483,060 since "late April," KCNA said, with more than 660,000 still being treated. The precise number of positive COVID tests was unclear, a possible result of the country's poor testing infrastructure.

At a Politburo gathering of the Workers' Party, Kim mobilized the North Korean military to stabilize the distribution of medicines, the agency said. Some 11,000 medical teachers, students and officials were also taking part in contact tracing in the capital city Pyongyang, which is believed to be the epicenter of the outbreak.

The ruling party's acknowledgment that it had been monitoring fever cases since late last month makes likely the theory that the outbreak began among members of the Korean People's Army following a military parade on 25 April.