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North Korea reported its first COVID-19 outbreak on Thursday, declaring a national emergency and imposing a national lockdown.
State media reported that an Omicron variant had been detected in the capital, Pyongyang.
"The state's most serious emergency has occurred: A break emerged in our emergency epidemic prevention front that had been firmly defended until now," the official Korean Central News Agency said.
North Korea hadn't confirmed any COVID-19 infections before, although officials in South Korea and the U.S. have said it's possible that earlier cases circulated in the country due to trade with and travel to China, Reuters reported. North Korea sealed its borders in early 2020 but reopened some crossings with China this year for trade.
If infections spread, an outbreak could cause a crisis in North Korea, which lacks medical supplies and has isolated itself by keeping borders closed and refusing international help with vaccines.
Based on the latest World Health Organization data, there have been no official COVID-19 cases, deaths, or vaccinations in North Korea. In a WHO reportfrom late March, more than 64,200 people have been tested among the country's 25 million residents, and all were negative.
