Covid-19 Cases Have Exploded In North Korea Just A Few Days After Recording Patient Zero

North Korea has reported a 15 deaths from 'fever', as the country grapples with its first ever coronavirus outbreak.

At least 324,550 North Koreans have needed medical treatment in recent days, as the nation's hospital system teeters on the brink of collapse.

The country has been thrown into a 'maximum emergency quarantine system' to slow the spread of the virus throughout the population.

Official state media KCNA on Sunday said 42 people had died since the outbreak’s beginning.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has since ordered nationwide lockdowns after holding emergency crises meetings.

"The spread of malignant disease comes to be a great upheaval in our country since the founding of the DPRK," he told state media, referring to North Korea by its official name.

State media provided more detail about the lockdown in their report, adding: "All provinces, cities and counties of the country have been totally locked down and working units, production units and residential units closed from each other."

North Korea has maintained a tough blockade against Coronavirus since the beginning of the global pandemic in 2020.

But surging outbreaks of the Omicron variant in neighbouring countries meant it was only a matter of time before the disease snuck in, and experts fear Covid-19 could tear through the population thanks to its poor healthcare system.

The entirety of North Korea's population is unvaccinated, with the rogue state previously tuning down offers of Covid-19 vaccines from China and the World Health Organisation’s Covax scheme.

Beijing and Seoul have issued fresh offers of aid since the nation's outbreak was announced.