Kim "enraged": It's not good

Kim "enraged": It's not good

He accused government officials of inadequate and inert response, state media reported today.

North Korea has registered 232.880 people with symptoms of fever and six more deaths after the country confirmed the coronavirus epidemic last week, Reuters reports.

Speaking at a meeting of the ruling Labor Party's political bureau, Kim said that "the immaturity of the state's capacity to deal with the crisis has increased the complexity and difficulties in fighting the pandemic," according to the state agency KCNA.

Since its first recognition of the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic, North Korea has registered 1.72 million patients with fever symptoms, including 62 deaths so far.

However, the state also said that the situation with the virus in the country was getting a "favorable turn", adding that the party meeting discussed "maintaining good chances on the overall front of the epidemic prevention".

The report did not specify the basis for such a positive assessment, according to Reuters. The country has not yet started mass vaccination and has limited ability to test for the virus, which is why many experts are worried that it may be difficult to estimate how wide and fast the disease is spreading.

According to the KCNA agency, North Korea advocated for better handling of "collection, transport and testing of samples from those with fever, with the installation of additional quarantine facilities". KCNA also reported that health officials have developed a guide to treating COVID-19.

Officials and researchers have stepped up efforts to "massively develop and produce drugs effective in treating viral infections and establishing more rational diagnoses and treatment methods," but the agency did not provide details on which drugs were involved.