Residents of Pyongyang were quarantined and demanded to check the temperature more often

The cause of the “lockdown” in the capital of North Korea called a respiratory disease

North Korea is locking down North Korea’s capital Pyongyang due to a respiratory illness. Residents have been told the rise in cases means they must stay at home for five days and have their temperatures checked frequently.

Authorities in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang have ordered a five-day quarantine due to a rise in cases of an unspecified respiratory illness, Seoul-based NK News reported on Wednesday, citing a government notice.

As noted by The Guardian, the notice does not mention COVID-19, but says that residents of the city must remain in their homes until the end of Sunday and undergo temperature checks several times a day, according to NK News, which monitors the processes in North Korea.

On Tuesday, the website reported that Pyongyang residents were allegedly “stocking up in panic” in large quantities in anticipation of more restrictive measures. At the same time, it is unclear whether the new quarantine rules have been introduced in other parts of North Korea.

North Korea recognized the first outbreak of COVID-19 in the country in 2022, but by August, the DPRK had declared victory over the virus.

Authorities have never confirmed how many people in North Korea have contracted the coronavirus. According to The Guardian, this is apparently due to the fact that the DPRK does not have sufficient funds to conduct large-scale testing.

Instead, North Korean authorities reported a daily number of fever patients, which rose to 4.77 million out of a population of about 25 million. But no such cases have been reported since July 29, writes The Guardian.

State media continued to report on measures to combat the pandemic of respiratory illnesses, including influenza, but had not yet reported on the quarantine order.

For its part, the NK News website notes that in recent days, Pyongyang residents pictured at Lunar New Year events have been wearing face masks, with some wearing double masks or higher quality masks.

On Tuesday, the state news agency KCNA reported that the city of Kaesong, near the border with South Korea, has stepped up public awareness campaigns “to ensure that all working people voluntarily comply with anti-epidemic rules in their work and life.”