North Korea's state media said on Thursday that a fever outbreak of unknown origin has emerged in a region bordering China, but it was not the novel coronavirus over which the country declared victory this month.
Four fever cases "suspected of being infected with malignant epidemic" were reported from Ryanggang Province near the border with China on Tuesday, prompting authorities to immediately lock down the area and mobilise medical teams, the official KCNA news agency said, citing the State Emergency Epidemic Prevention Headquarters.
But a detailed analysis of the nationwide epidemic situation showed that there have been no COVID-19 cases since the country's outbreak ended early this month, KCNA said.
