The isolated country has been in a heated battle against an unprecedented Covid-19 wave since declaring a state of emergency and imposing a nationwide lockdown this month, fuelling concerns about a lack of vaccines, medical supplies and food shortages.
Some 100,460 more people showed fever symptoms as of Thursday evening, compared with nearly 400,000 about 10 days ago, the official KCNA news agency said, citing data from the state emergency epidemic prevention headquarters. In another dispatch, KCNA said anti-virus offices gathered samples from many sources to check whether areas had been infected with Covid-19.
It did not elaborate on testing methods. North Korea said last year it had developed its own polymerase chain reaction test equipment, but has never confirmed how many people have tested positive, instead reporting the number with fever symptoms.