North Korea is fighting the spread of COVID-19 among the unvaccinated population without access to effective antiviral drugs, writes the British BBC.
In early 2020, the country sealed its borders to try to isolate itself from the pandemic. The North Korean leadership has so far rejected outside medical care. The state media there recommends various traditional treatments to deal with what they call “fever”.
For those who are not seriously ill, the ruling Rodong Sinmun newspaper recommends drugs, including ginger or honeysuckle tea and a willow leaf drink.
Hot drinks can soothe some of the symptoms of COVID, such as a sore throat or cough, and help with hydration when patients lose more fluids than normal. Ginger and willow leaves also relieve inflammation and reduce pain. But they are not used to treat the disease.
State media recently interviewed a couple who recommend gargling with salt water in the morning and evening. “A thousand tons of salt” were sent to Pyongyang to make an “antiseptic solution”, the state news agency reported.
Some studies suggest that gargling and rinsing the nose with salt water to fight viruses that cause the common cold soothes symptoms. But there is very little evidence that they slow the spread of COVID-19.
North Korea’s health care system is designed to offer free medical care from basic services in rural areas to specialized treatment in public hospitals (usually in urban centers).
But the economy has shrunk in recent years due to sanctions and extreme weather conditions such as droughts. Closing the country’s borders and strict lockdowns will also have a detrimental effect. It is believed that the health system is particularly weak outside Pyongyang, suffering from a shortage of staff, medicines and equipment, Maritsa writes.
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