“Our government position is firm,” said Moon’s special adviser on national security Moon Chung-in, in an interview CNN on Sunday. “Kim Jong Un is alive and well.”

The adviser said that Kim had been staying in Wonsan — a resort town in the country’s east — since April 13, adding: “No suspicious movements have so far been detected.”

Conjecture about Kim’s health has grown since his conspicuous absence from the April 15 celebrations for the birthday of his grandfather Kim Il Sung, the North’s founder — the most important day in the country’s political calendar.

Kim has not made a public appearance since presiding over a Workers’ Party politburo meeting on April 11, and the following day state media reported him inspecting fighter jets at an air defence unit.

His absence has unleashed a series of unconfirmed media reports over his condition, which officials in Seoul previously poured cold water on.

“We have nothing to confirm and no special movement has been detected inside North Korea as of now,” the South’s presidential office said in a statement last week.

Daily NK, an online media outlet run mostly by North Korean defectors, has reported Kim was recovering after undergoing a cardiovascular procedure earlier this month.

Citing an unidentified source inside the country, it said Kim, who is in his mid-30s, had needed urgent treatment due to heavy smoking, obesity and fatigue.

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The 71-year-old man, who died in a hospital near Sacramento, had underlying health conditions and had been on a cruise ship, said officials.

The White House moved on Wednesday to expand testing nationwide for the disease. There are now at least 150 reported US patients with Covid-19 in 16 states.

Authorities have confirmed more than 92,000 cases of the virus worldwide, of which more than 80,000 are in China. More than 3,000 people have died globally, the vast majority in China.

Ten of the 11 US deaths were in Washington state, but the outbreak has also flared up in Texas and Nebraska.

Washington and Florida both declared states of emergency over the weekend to help prevent the coronavirus.

The California man who died is believed to have been exposed to the disease while travelling last month on a Princess Cruise ship that departed from San Francisco and visited Mexico.

The vessel has been ordered to return to port in San Francisco.

The ship is operated by Carnival, whose Diamond Princess cruise liner was quarantined last month after dozens of passengers tested positive for Covid-19 as it docked in Japan.

US Vice-President Mike Pence said on Wednesday that any American can be tested for the coronavirus if ordered by a doctor.

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