The Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea convened a consultative meeting at the office building of the Party Central Committee on May 14 to overhaul the top emergency epidemic prevention system under operation and take additional political and practical measures.

Kim Jong Un, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea, guided the consultative meeting.

It was attended by members of the Presidium of the Political Bureau of the WPK Central Committee and members and alternate members of the Political Bureau of the Party Central Committee.

Present there as observers were officials in the state emergency epidemic prevention sector and a leading official of the Ministry of Public Health.

The Political Bureau first heard a report of the state emergency epidemic prevention headquarters on the spread of the infectious disease as of May 13.

On May 13, over 174 440 persons developed fever, at least 81 430 were fully recovered and 21 died throughout the country.

The number of persons who had contracted fever from late April to May 13 totals over 524 440 throughout the country, of whom more than 243 630 were fully recovered and at least 280 810 are under medical treatment with 27 being dead.

The report referred to the data on the spread of the disease in every region and unit and the characteristics of its progress, and notified that in most cases the loss of life was caused by mistakes like overdosing of drugs, being unaware of scientific medical treatment methods.

The Political Bureau discussed political and practical measures to rapidly curb and control the nationwide spread of the disease so as to firmly hold the strategic initiative.

The consultative meeting focused on the issue of timely supplying reserve medicines, which would be urgently released as required by the top emergency epidemic prevention system.

It confirmed again practical procedures to make sure that the reserve medicines are timely and exactly conveyed to patients by mobilizing all the state means and forces in support of the transport and supply of medicines in demand.

It held an in-depth discussion of the ways to minimize the losses of lives by reasonably applying scientific treatment tactics and methods to different patients including fevered persons with special constitutional conditions and timely cope with the disease spread while observing its progress more closely.

The respected General Secretary said that just as the worldwide spread of COVID-19 is very serious, the spread of this malignant disease can be claimed to be a great upheaval in our country since the founding of the DPRK, but we can surely overcome the crisis if we do not lose balance in carrying out the epidemic prevention policy but maintain the strong organizing ability and control based on the single-minded unity of the Party and the people and intensify the epidemic prevention campaign.

Analyzing the nature and source of the crisis in a scientific way, he said that the current situation is not an uncontrollable spread between regions but the spread in locked areas and relevant units, and we should be confident that we will be able to overcome the malignant disease in the shortest possible time as we can see from the smooth progress of most courses of the disease.

Stressing again the rationality and efficiency of the regional blocking and unit-isolation steps taken by the Party and government actively and decisively, he called on the emergency epidemic prevention units at all levels to more scrupulously organize the operation for and command over the epidemic prevention work of their regions and units to surely reverse the trend of the spread of the disease.

In order to overcome the present public health crisis quickly, it is important to raise public awareness of scientific epidemic prevention, he noted, calling upon the curative and preventive and other relevant organs to scrupulously organize the work for informing broad masses of people of the general knowledge needed for the prevention and treatment of the epidemic, produce diverse presentations and programs for improving the understanding of the masses at the same time and widely disseminate them through mass media.

Noting that the public health crisis facing us is also attributable to the incompetence, irresponsibility and no-role of Party organizations in the epidemic prevention effort, he said that officials of the Party organizations at all levels, who know our Party's public health and epidemic prevention policies better than anyone else, should go deep among the people who are suffering difficulties, share joy and sorrow with them and always become competent pacemakers and kind explainers to firmly ensure a good chance of winning the epidemic prevention campaign.

He also stressed that the Party organizations at all levels should resolutely turn out in the campaign for defending the people with boundless devotion and invariable loyalty to them and always become the vanguard, shock brigade and bulletproof wall in the present acute anti-epidemic war.

The virtues and feelings of helping and taking care of each other which prevails our society in any adversities are the key to and guarantee of a great victory in the epidemic prevention campaign which is more powerful than any latest medical science and technologies, he said, calling upon all the Party organizations to scrupulously conduct the organizational and political work so that our best communist virtues and beautiful traits, which no one on earth can possess or imitate, are given fuller play to in the present difficult and rigorous epidemic prevention campaign.

Noting that the time has come when our Party Central Committee will prove its leading role once again in the face of the trials of history, he said that it is time for us to more deeply realize for what we are needed and for whom we have to fight at the cost of our lives and that our Party will bravely discharge its important responsibility and duty and take full responsibility for the security and wellbeing of the country and people by displaying infinite loyalty and devotion, and repeatedly expressed his determination and will to win a great victory in the epidemic prevention campaign without fail.

Saying that he was donating reserve medicines prepared by his family to the Party committee of the WPK Central Committee with his resolution to always share his destiny with the people and with a fervent prayer that peace and laughter would settle again in all families across the country at an early date, he suggested to the Party committee that they send the medicines to a family in difficulty.

It is also very important for our epidemic prevention sector to study well the anti-epidemic policies of advanced countries and successes and experience in their fight against the epidemic, he said, adding it is good to actively learn from the advanced and rich anti-epidemic successes and experience already gained by the Chinese party and people in their efforts to combat the malignant epidemic, in particular.

The consultative meeting also discussed such issues as taking practical measures to quickly strengthen the material and technological foundations of the public health sector and taking legal measures to strongly condemn all negative practices hindering the emergency epidemic prevention efforts.