North Korea is believed to have received medical supplies from China to deal with an explosive increase in fever cases possibly caused by the coronavirus.

Informed sources told NHK that three transport planes of the North's flagship carrier Air Koryo are confirmed to have arrived in the northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang on Monday morning, and returned to North Korea in the afternoon.

The three Ilyushin-76 aircraft are believed to have carried medical supplies from China.

The aircraft was used to carry leader Kim Jong Un's car when he attended a summit with then-US President Donald Trump in Singapore.

Kim has ordered his officials to take measures to contain the spread of infections, as China has done under its zero-COVID policy.

He apparently sought support from China as the North's healthcare system is said to be poor.

North Korea confirmed more than 269,500 new cases of fever in the 24 hours through 6 p.m. on Monday. The country's total number of confirmed fever cases since late April has exceeded 1,483,000.

The ruling Workers Party newspaper, Rodong Shinmun, reported on Tuesday that military doctors rallied in Pyongyang after Kim Jong Un's special order was issued.

The newspaper reported that after the rally, the medical personnel were deployed to all pharmacies in the capital and started a 24-hour operation to supply medicine.

The World Health Organization on Monday said that since North Korea has yet to start COVID-19 vaccination, the virus could spread rapidly without immediate and appropriate measures.