The first death of a person who contracted COVID-19 has been reported in North Korea just one day after the hermit country acknowledged the pandemic had infiltrated its borders.

It’s not confirmed whether all of the 18,000 “fever cases” and six deaths the country announced on Thursday are related to COVID-19, as the country lacks the testing capabilities needed to determine the cause of the widespread outbreak. But at least one of the dead people tested positive for the omicron variant, and 350,000 North Koreans have been infected since late April, North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency reported.

NORTH KOREA ACKNOWLEDGES COVID-19 CASE FOR FIRST TIME

Nearly 190,000 North Koreans are in quarantine, and about 162,000 have recovered from their symptoms, according to state media outlets.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered a nationwide lockdown after the country reported its first cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, noting the outburst of cases was a “grave sign of lapses in our anti-epidemic system,” according to state media. Kim appeared in public wearing a mask for the first time later that day.

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The country previously denied having any confirmed cases of COVID-19, which prompted skepticism from the international community.