North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said on Saturday that the spread of Covid-19 had put the country in "great turmoil" and called for an all-out battle to overcome the epidemic, while 21 new deaths were reported for a day earlier among people with fevers.

North Korea made an unprecedented admission of its first Covid outbreak this week, after claiming no infections for more than two years since the start of the pandemic, but there was no sign a rigorous testing or treatment campaign was...