North Korea halts rail crossings with China amid rise in COVID-19 cases: Report

The Yonhap news agency on Friday said cross-border freight train services between North Korea and China have been suspended after a series of COVID-19 infections in the Chinese border city of Dandong.

It is reported that authorities in Dandong decided on the suspension at North Korea’s request.

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The suspension came less than four months after North Korea eased its years-long border lockdowns against the coronavirus that began early in 2020.

According to international aid groups, strict lockdowns worsened economic problems and threatened food supplies to millions.

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Authorities in Seoul, the capital of neighbouring South Korea, said they were keeping watch on the situation.

“The government is closely monitoring possible changes in related moves following COVID-19 cases in Dandong region,” said an official of the unification ministry, which is charged with handling relations between the two countries.

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Meanwhile, Reuters reported that Shanghai classifies each housing unit according to three levels of risk, designating those that have not seen a COVID-19 positive case for 14 days as “prevention zones”, allowing residents to go out for “appropriate” activities.

Another 5.93 million medium-risk residents are now allowed, in principle, to leave their apartments but are still confined to their compounds.

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The government said 52 people died of the virus on April 28, up from 47 a day earlier. Their average age was 84.

The city reported 9,545 new asymptomatic cases on Thursday, up from 9,330 a day earlier, with symptomatic cases also surging to 5,487, from 1,292 the previous day.