When COVID-19 cases in North Korea surpassed three million in May 2022, it was reported at the time that Kim Jong Un-led government forced pregnant mothers to give birth in hotels and warehouses that lack proper treatment.

What happened: Accordingly Radio-free AsiaA United States-funded nonprofit intelligence agency, pregnant women in North Korea suspected of having the disease are taken to hotels, warehouses and other makeshift medical facilities to deliver the newborns.

See also: Kim Jong Un lifts North Korea’s lockdown imposed 5 days ago to control an unspecified ‘respiratory illness’

An unnamed source, a resident of Anju City, told Radio Free Asia that “at Anju Hotel, men and women with symptoms of COVID-19 are separated and isolated in their rooms.”

In about 200 isolated residents of Anju, “there are many pregnant women among those with severe symptoms who are being quarantined in the hotels,” the source said.

“Anyone who is about to give birth is at risk. There have been cases of stillborn babies being born well before their due date because the women could not get adequate treatment.”

“The quarantine authorities have only dealt with the bodies of the stillborn babies and are not giving any further treatment or special care to the mothers who complain of high fevers or postpartum symptoms. Families are outraged that quarantine officials say the only way they can let the grieving mothers go is if they recover from their COVID-19 symptoms,” added an RFA source.

According to the report, treatment at the quarantine facility consists of just two painkiller pills a day.

Another source, on condition of anonymity for security reasons, said Chungsan County suspected COVID-19 cases are being isolated in an empty warehouse at a cooperative farm.

“At the moment there are about 300 patients in quarantine in the camp and in the farm propaganda office. There are about 20 pregnant women in the group…