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North Korea has announced that they will impose hard labour on those that break Covid-19 measures.

No more than groups of three

These include gathering in groups of more than three outside their households, except immediate family members.

A South Pyongan province resident told Radio Free Asia (RFA) that people who are caught will be sent to a disciplinary labour centre for violating the quarantine or slapped with a huge fine.

Weddings, which was initially exempted from the restrictions, now can only be held with the total number of people kept to three.

This is as a result of "suspected" Covid-19 patients reportedly increasing since June.

No reported cases

North Korea has not officially reported a single Covid-19 case yet, though there are signs that the pandemic has spread.

In February, RFA reported that 12 people who died from Covid-19 symptoms were cremated swiftly before the hospital building they were at was disinfected, raising suspicions.

Insider reported that in June,  Kim Jong Un blamed top officials for their "chronic irresponsibility and incompetence" in the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.

North Korea was reportedly supposed to begin their vaccination programme with two million AstraZeneca vaccines donated through the World Health Organization's COVAX programme.

However, Reuters reported that the planned shipments were rejected due to North Korea's concerns over side effects such as blood clots.

The North Korean authorities were said to have shown interest in Russia's Sputnik V vaccine instead, but there have been no reports on such arrangements being made so far.

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Top photo via KCNA