Gert van der Hoek
In Memoriam - Editor, Senior Moderator
National health officials sent to the school said test results confirmed the students were suffering from “acute pneumonia"
North Korean authorities have recently diagnosed university students at a school in Gangwon Province displaying symptoms similar to COVID-19, such as high fevers and respiratory distress, with “acute pneumonia,” Daily NK has learned.
According to a Daily NK source in North Korea last Thursday, students living in a dormitory of Wonsan University of Fisheries in Wonsan, Gangwon Province, were put into isolation in the middle of last month after they began suffering from high fevers.
The next day, local health officials were sent to the university to collect samples from the students.
When several students simultaneously began showing symptoms of COVID-19, the authorities completely shut down the entire school, according to the source.
National health officials sent to the area several days later said test results confirmed the students were suffering from “acute pneumonia” – not COVID-19 – and that this was “not an outbreak of the coronavirus.”
The officials warned people against spreading rumors related to COVID-19 and, moreover, ordered everyone to remain silent about what recently happened at the university.
With the authorities moving to stop the “spread of rumors,” local residents are saying they “cannot trust the test results.”
“People are asking how a group outbreak of ‘acute pneumonia’ could suddenly happen, and saying it must be COVID-19,” the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
North Korean authorities have recently diagnosed university students at a school in Gangwon Province displaying symptoms similar to COVID-19, such as high fevers and respiratory distress, with “acute pneumonia,” Daily NK has learned.
According to a Daily NK source in North Korea last Thursday, students living in a dormitory of Wonsan University of Fisheries in Wonsan, Gangwon Province, were put into isolation in the middle of last month after they began suffering from high fevers.
The next day, local health officials were sent to the university to collect samples from the students.
When several students simultaneously began showing symptoms of COVID-19, the authorities completely shut down the entire school, according to the source.
National health officials sent to the area several days later said test results confirmed the students were suffering from “acute pneumonia” – not COVID-19 – and that this was “not an outbreak of the coronavirus.”
The officials warned people against spreading rumors related to COVID-19 and, moreover, ordered everyone to remain silent about what recently happened at the university.
With the authorities moving to stop the “spread of rumors,” local residents are saying they “cannot trust the test results.”
“People are asking how a group outbreak of ‘acute pneumonia’ could suddenly happen, and saying it must be COVID-19,” the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.