North Korea locks down capital city over 'respiratory illness' - Reuters

SEOUL, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Authorities successful the North Korean superior Pyongyang person ordered a five-day lockdown owed to rising cases of an unspecified respiratory illness, the Russian embassy and Seoul-based NK News reported connected Wednesday, citing a authorities notice.

The notice, shared by the embassy connected its Facebook page, said that a "a peculiar anti-epidemic play has been established" and it called connected overseas delegations to support employees inside. The bid besides called for individuals to measurement their temperatures 4 times a time and study the results to a infirmary by phone.

The announcement made nary notation of COVID-19 though cited an "increase successful wintertime cases of recurrent flu and different respiratory diseases".

The lockdowns were archetypal reported by South Korea's NK News, which monitors secretive North Korea.

On Tuesday, the website reported that Pyongyang residents appeared to beryllium stocking up connected goods successful anticipation of stricter measures. It was unclear if different areas of the state had imposed caller lockdowns.

North Korea acknowledged its archetypal COVID-19 outbreak past year, but by August had declared triumph implicit the virus.

It ne'er confirmed however galore radical caught COVID, seemingly due to the fact that it lacks the means to behaviour wide testing.

Instead, Pyongyang reported regular numbers of patients with fever, a tally that roseate to immoderate 4.77 million, retired of a colonisation of astir 25 million. But it has not reported specified cases since July 29.

State media person continued to study connected anti-pandemic measures to conflict respiratory diseases, including the flu, but person yet to study connected the lockdown order.

On Tuesday, authorities quality bureau KCNA said the metropolis of Kaesong, adjacent the borderline with South Korea, had intensified nationalist connection campaigns "so that each the moving radical observe anti-epidemic regulations voluntarily successful their enactment and life".

Reporting by Josh Smith; editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.