The first suggestion that North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un was infected with coronavirus has emerged after the state claimed he was "seriously ill".
The sister of the leader of the secretive country known for its cruel treatment of citizens and hushed-up attitudes revealed that he had suffered with symptoms of some kind of "fever".
Fanatical audience members were shown crying as they learned of the 'news' their leader had been ill "but did not lie down even for a second while thinking only of his responsibility for the people".
She said: "The victory gained by our people is a historic event that once again showed the world the greatness of our state, the indomitable tenacity of our people and the beautiful national customs we are proud of."
The propaganda was revealed in a party workers' event for a "national meeting for reviewing the emergency anti-epidemic work."
The outbreak was first announced in the country on May 12 this year.
Kim Yo-jong also blamed the outbreak of Covid-19 in the country on contaminated leaflets sent over the border by South Korea.
She claimed South Korea was behind the leaflets and the North would issue an armed response if they did not stop.
South Korea roundly rejected the claim.
Activists in South Korea are known to send balloons over the border with leaflets that contain criticisms of Kim Jong-un, but it is unlikely that they caused an outbreak of Covid.
There were large gatherings in April this year and the country also opened its borders to freight traffic from China in January.
The state's official death toll from Covid stands at 74, described by Kim as an "unprecedented miracle in the history of the world health community."
This is unlikely and there have been reports of around 4.8 million cases of fever, but not described as Covid.
The country is known to have a lack of testing kits available and claimed to have not recorded a single case of the virus in the first two years of the pandemic.
World Health Organisation (WHO) emergencies chief Michael Ryan said in June: "We assume the situation is getting worse, not better.
"We have real issues in getting access to the raw data and to the actual situation on the ground."
The dictator added: "The victory gained by our people is a historic event that once again showed the world the greatness of our state, the indomitable tenacity of our people and the beautiful national customs we are proud of."
Experts do not believe the country's healthcare system is good enough to stand up to the threat of Covid due to poor equipment, a lack of vaccines and minimal intensive care units.
