North Korean authorities have stepped up measures intended to prevent the spread of the Chinese coronavirus, the ruling party daily reported on Tuesday, setting up quarantines at the country's borders, ports, and airports and isolating those believed to have been exposed to the illness.

In what represents state media's first reporting on the DPRK's strict new rules put in place to stem the virus, the Rodong Sinmun reported that the country's Ministry of Health was working to "thoroughly establish quarantine measures."