North Korean defectors unable to receive treatment despite severe COVID symptoms: Report

As the number of COVID-19 cases in China continues to rise, North Korean defectors are unable to receive treatment even after showing severe symptoms of coronavirus, Daily NK reported.

"North Korean defectors in China cannot receive treatment even if they have [the virus]," Daily NK quoted a Chinese source as saying.

Defectors living in farming villages are often unaware that there are home diagnostic kits for COVID-10. One in an undisclosed area in China, a resident defector said defectors take flu medicine because they cannot be tested even if they are infected with COVID-19, Daily NK reported.

"We can't go anywhere without a vaccination certificate, but since we don't have an ID, we can even think about vaccination," Daily NK reported the words of one of the defectors.

Amidst the ongoing situation, the number of defectors living in China seeking to visit South Korea has increased since the start of the pandemic. Several defectors were jailed after Chinese police arrested them when they entered South Korea, Daily NK reported, citing a source.