North Korea’s Kim Jong Un marked the birth anniversary of the country’s former leader Sunday, in his first reported public appearance in over three weeks as a deadly coronavirus rages in neighbouring China.

Pyongyang has said nothing about cases in the North, but it has stopped international tourism and extended the quarantine period to 30 days for those suspected of carrying the virus, including foreigners.

State media has carried photos of mask-wearing officials holding emergency meetings as well as images of workers disinfecting public places including hospitals, schools, railway stations and hair salons.

The North has poor medical infrastructure and a chronic shortage of medicines and has taken similar action in the past it banned tourists for more than four months from October 2014 to keep out the Ebola virus, even though no cases had been reported in Asia.

At Mansu hill in Pyongyang on Sunday, a steady stream of North Koreans lined up to pay their own respects, placing flowers at the feet of the giant bronze statues of Kim Jong Il and Kim Il Sung, the country’s founder.