N. Korea lifts quarantine on some 70 more foreigners

North Korea has lifted the quarantine placed on about 70 foreigners over coronavirus concerns, state media reported Friday, bringing the total number of foreigners released from isolation to nearly 300.

Those released have been under medical supervision in accordance with guidelines from the central emergency control center, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Last week, the North lifted the quarantine on 221 foreigners.

The total number of foreigners allowed to leave quarantine facilities so far came to 290 out of some 380 reported to have been under medical screening, many of them presumed to be diplomats stationed in Pyongyang.

Despite their release, diplomats' activities in North Korea appear to be restricted.

According to the Facebook account of the Russian Embassy in Pyongyang on Thursday, North Korea recently sent guidelines to foreign missions in which diplomats and their families are urged to wear a mask when going outdoors and stay away from large crowds.

They are allowed to visit hotels exclusively for foreigners, department stores and parks but not to leave Pyongyang, it showed.

North Korea has not reported any confirmed coronavirus infections, but it has kept at least 10,000 people separated from the public as a precautionary measure to block the outbreak of the highly contagious disease.

The KCNA said that around 1,710 have been released from quarantine facilities. According to state media reports thus far, the North has lifted the quarantine on some 5,600, or 57 percent, of those that have been under medical supervision.

The North has taken relatively swift preventive efforts amid concerns that it is highly vulnerable to the virus, as it shares a long and porous border with China and lacks key medical supplies and infrastructure to test and treat infected people.

Despite its repeated claims that it has no infections, worries persist that the North might be concealing an outbreak and that the virus could have spread across the country. (Yonhap)