N.Korea reports first COVID-19 death

People wear masks in Pyongyang, North Korea
North Korean authorities announced the arrival of the Omicron variant on Thursday. -AP

At least one person confirmed to have COVID-19 has died in North Korea, state media says, offering the first such statistics a day after the country confirmed its first outbreak since the pandemic began.

Some 187,800 people are being treated in isolation after a fever of unidentified origin has spread in the country since late April, the official KCNA news agency reported on Friday.

About 350,000 people have shown signs of that fever, 162,200 of them treated so far, though KCNA did not specify how many had tested positive for COVID-19.

At least six people who showed fever symptoms died, with one of those case confirmed to have contracted the Omicron variant of the virus, KCNA said.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited the anti-virus command centre on Tuesday a day after declaring "gravest state emergency" and ordering a national lockdown.