North Korea locks down Pyongyang over ‘respiratory illness’

North Korea has announced a five-day lockdown in the capital due to rising cases of an unspecified “respiratory illness,” according to Seoul-based NK News.

According to a government notice cited by NK News, residents in Pyongyang have been told to stay indoors from Wednesday to Sunday. They are also required to submit to multiple temperature checks each day.

The government notice did not mention COVID-19 but said the symptoms of the “respiratory illness” include the common cold, according to the Seoul-based website.

The order by North Korea comes a day after NK News reported that residents were stocking up on supplies in anticipation of a lockdown.

According to state news agency KCNA, the administration in Kaesong, a city near the border with South Korea, has ramped up public communication campaigns “so that all the working people observe anti-epidemic regulations voluntarily in their work and life.”