North Korea tells citizens to gargle salt water to fight Covid

Days after supreme leader Kim Jong-un said that the Covid-19 outbreak was a national disaster, the country has told citizens to gargle with salt water.

The secretive country shut its doors to the world as the pandemic took hold, with the country denying the existence of any Covid-19 cases. However, since relaxing the rules, the virus has spread like wildfire through the unvaccinated country.

According to reports, the most recent of the traditional military parades in Pyongyang was a super-spreader event resulting in many of those attending getting infected.

But not to be outdone for its outlandish methods, and not willing to follow western customs, norms and methods, the country has told its citizens that they should gargle with salt water. That they said will help fight the virus.

However, North Korea is known only shun western medicine and help from it “enemies”, it also does not have the resources to acquire the vaccines that have been used elsewhere in curbing the spread and voracity of the virus.

Residents have also appeared on TV, according to Reuters, claiming that “Traditional treatments are the best,” with one woman claiming that her children gargle salt water twice a day.

But this is not the only remedy being suggested or used, with some claiming that willow leaf tea, is providing the protection they need. The tea is used by herbalists to fight fatigue, to protect joints, as a painkiller and to fight hangovers.

Others have recommended everything from ginger tea to other herbal medicines.

With North Korea being one of only two countries to reject world support in fighting Covid-19, the case of South Africa and the rejection that HIV/AIDS existed led to the country having the highest infection rate in the world.

According to the Korean Central News Agency, North Korea had recorded more than 1.7 million cases of fever and 62 deaths. This within a few days of announcing the outbreak.

With the country lacking the facilities to carry out testing and with a history of hiding bad news, actual numbers are likely far higher than the reported figures.

Although Kim Jong-un has described the outbreak as the biggest challenge the country has faced since 1948, they continue to reject outside help, instead telling citizens to gargle salt water to fight Covid-19.

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