Sources in the city say patrols send the names of violators to workplaces, which handle punishment

Hyesan, a city in North Korea’s Ryanggang Province, is mobilizing medical students to crack down on people not wearing face masks in public, Daily NK has learned.

According to Daily NK sources on Mar. 13, party committees at universities in the province have extended school vacations. The students are now spending their time out of school in patrols looking for people not wearing masks.

“Right now the entire country is focused on controlling the spread of COVID-19, and university party committees are doing their part by mobilizing the university students,” a Ryanggang-based source told Daily NK. “Students are patrolling the city of Hyesan in two-hour shifts to ensure that residents are all wearing masks.”

The rules for wearing masks in the city are “so stringent that everybody – including children – must wear a mask in public,” the source said, adding, “Students are already at home because of school closures, but people that work at local markets or factories have to wear masks to and from work.”

The rules are so strict that even people who don’t wear their face masks correctly are stopped by the patrols in public.

“The ice has started to melt on the Yalu River, but it’s still cold,” the source said. “People’s masks get wet and slide down past their chins because of all the steam coming out of their mouths.” But, according to him, even these unfortunates are stopped by patrols.

Apart from medical students, people from other social organizations take part in the mask enforcement patrols. This means that North Koreans in the city never really know who they will be stopped by.

The patrols reportedly send the names of violators to the workplaces, which are responsible for dealing out punishment.

“The medical students on the patrols at least explain why people need to wear face masks in public,” another source told Daily NK. “They tell people that the masks are not to protect the health of others, but to protect themselves.”

Wearing a mask has become so commonplace in the city that “it’s rare to see someone without a mask,” the source said.

“People know that if you come down with acute pneumonia [COVID-19] you’ll die, so people are determined to protect themselves,” he added.

*Translated by Violet Kim

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