North Korea on Tuesday reported six additional deaths from "fever," days after announcing its first Covid case, and said it was ramping up the military distribution of medicines.

State media KCNA reported that the army had "urgently deployed its powerful forces to all pharmacies in Pyongyang City and began to supply medicines".

The toll comes despite leader Kim Jong Un ordering nationwide lockdowns in a bid to slow the spread of disease through the unvaccinated population.

Kim has so far strongly criticised healthcare officials for what he called a botched response to epidemic prevention -- specifically a failure to keep pharmacies open 24/7 to distribute medicine.

The Tuesday report by KCNA said that "urgent measures have been taken to immediately rectify the deviations in the supply of medicines," including 24-hour operation of pharmacies in Pyongyang.

Since the country announced its first Covid case last Thursday, Kim has put himself front and centre of North Korea's disease response, overseeing near-daily emergency Politburo meetings on the outbreak, which he has said is causing "great upheaval" in the country.

KCNA reported Tuesday that efforts were underway to inform the masses about "the stealth Omicron variant to make them deeply understand the scientific treatment methods and epidemic prevention rules."

North Korea has one of the world's worst healthcare systems, with poorly-equipped hospitals, few intensive care units, and no Covid-19 treatment drugs or mass testing ability, experts say.