North Korea is paying close attention to the global COVID-19 pandemic ahead of a major political event in January, warning citizens of a new strain of the virus in state media and deploying quarantine measures to prevent outbreaks.

On Tuesday, the country’s state-run Rodong Sinmun newspaper urged citizens to be on “maximum alert” ahead of the country’s Eighth Party Congress, where delegates and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un are expected to decide on major national policies sometime in January. The article spoke of a new strain of “COVID-19” with strong infectivity — likely referring to international media reports about mutations detected in the United Kingdom, Spain, Sweden, South Africa and other countries.