Kim Jong Un, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and president of the State Affairs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, visited the state emergency epidemic prevention headquarters on May 12.

He was accompanied by Jo Yong Won and Pak Jong Chon, members of the Presidium of the Political Bureau of the WPK Central Committee.

He was greeted by officials of the headquarters on the spot.

Making rounds of the command rooms of the headquarters, he examined the epidemic prevention situation one day after the state epidemic prevention work was switched over to the maximum emergency epidemic prevention system to cope with the prevailing epidemic prevention crisis, and learned about the nationwide spread of COVID-19.

A fever whose cause couldn't be identified explosively spread nationwide from late April and more than 350 000 people got fever in a short span of time and at least 162 200 out of them were healed completely. On May 12 alone, some 18 000 persons with fever occurred nationwide and as of now up to 187 800 people are being isolated and treated. Six persons died (one of them tested positive for the BA.2 sub-variant of Omicron.)

The General Secretary criticized that the simultaneous spread of fever with the capital area as a centre shows that there is a vulnerable point in the epidemic prevention system we have already established. 

He reiterated the importance of the work of all the provinces, cities and counties of the country to take steps for isolating each working unit, production unit and residential unit from each other while locking down their areas and providing the inhabitants with every convenience in curbing the spread of the malicious virus.

Noting that if we put under control the spread situation and take measures in tiding over the present crisis, in particular, we always come to stand on the defensive in the epidemic prevention work, he said that it is the top priority to block the virus spread by actively locking down areas and isolating and treating persons with fever in a responsible manner.

As repeatedly stressing, the initiative in the epidemic prevention work is the life, he said, underlining the need to immediately and thoroughly carry out the articles of the decisions of the Political Bureau of the Party Central Committee for firmly taking hold on the good chance in the epidemic prevention campaign on one's own initiative and thus quickly contain the spread of epidemics.

The sectors of the public health and emergency epidemic prevention should minutely observe characteristics of the course of diseases of persons with fever, set up scientific treatment methods and tactics at a lightning tempo as demanded by the specialized manuals and further strengthen the state's measures for supplying medicines, he said.

He called for containing and stabilizing the spread of malicious epidemics by strictly preserving the state's emergency epidemic prevention guidelines, and for offensively conduct the political information work so that the people have a correct understanding of the state's emergency steps  and display high self-consciousness in carrying them out.

He put forward detailed tasks to be put into practice, including the issue for the emergency epidemic prevention units at all levels to enhance their operation and commanding capabilities for the epidemic prevention work of their regions and units and make full preparations for coping with the circumstances to be raised promptly and the issue of scrupulously forming forces to ensure the quickness and scientific accuracy in the epidemic prevention work.

It is the most important challenge and supreme tasks facing our Party to reverse the immediate public health crisis situation at an early date, restore the stability of epidemic prevention and protect the health and wellbeing of our people, he said, clarifying the determination, willingness and strategy and tactics of the Party Central Committee to victoriously lead the epidemic prevention war.

He expressed the expectations and conviction that the officials of the state emergency epidemic prevention headquarters would perfectly block and terminate the spread sources of malicious epidemics and take the lead in making a breakthrough of victory in the great epidemic prevention campaign with their courageous valor and practical ability as demanded by the spirit of the 8th Political Bureau Meeting of the 8th Central Committee of the WPK, deeply aware of the solemn mission and responsibility and duty assigned by the Party and the revolution.