Seoul, May 11: North Korea has raised concerns following the deaths of three passengers due to a hantavirus outbreak on a foreign cruise ship. This situation echoes the country’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic years ago.
The ruling Workers’ Party’s official newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, reported on Monday about the outbreak of the virus from the Andes region on a vessel in the Atlantic Ocean, labeling it a matter of international concern.
The newspaper stated that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a Level 3 emergency response in light of the outbreak and activated its emergency operations center.
Authorities urged the public to minimize contact with infected rodents, maintain cleanliness at home and workplaces, and adhere to personal hygiene practices to reduce infection risks.
This report follows another published on Friday, which detailed the first death on the MV Hondius, a ship that departed from Argentina.
The coverage seems aimed at alerting the public to the potential spread of the virus within the country. According to Yonhap News Agency, it recalls Pyongyang’s response to COVID-19, during which it sealed its borders for years to prevent the virus’s spread.
At that time, the lockdown effectively halted economic exchanges with major trading partners like China and Russia, believed to have severely impacted the economy.
Meanwhile, the Indian Embassy in Madrid reported that two Indian nationals aboard the affected cruise are safe and show no symptoms. The Dutch-flagged MV Hondius, carrying around 150 people, including the two Indians, arrived in Spain on Sunday.
In response to the hantavirus outbreak, the ship has anchored off the coast of Spain’s Canary Islands. Passengers disembarked according to protocols established by the World Health Organization and Spanish authorities.
Both Indian nationals are healthy and asymptomatic. According to information from the Spanish National Emergency Surveillance and Coordination Center, the two Indian crew members have been taken to the Netherlands, where they will be quarantined following health safety protocols.
The Indian Embassy stated that the ambassador is in contact with Spanish authorities and the two Indian nationals, monitoring the situation to ensure their safety.
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