North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has criticized health officials and ordered the military to help distribute medicine as a wave of Covid cases is sweeping the country.
More than a million people are reported to be suffering from what Pyongyang is calling "fever," state media said. About 50 people have died, but it is unclear how many of those suspected cases turned out to be positive with Covid.
North Korea has limited testing capacity, so few cases have been confirmed.
North Korea is likely to be particularly susceptible to the virus due to a lack of vaccinations and a weak health care system.
A nationwide blockade has been set up in the isolated place.
State media said Kim chaired an urgent meeting of the Politburo over the weekend, where he accused officials of disrupting the distribution of national medicine reserves. He ordered the "strong forces" of the army medical staff to intervene to "immediately stabilize the supply of medicine in the city of Pyongyang."