WHO: "North Korea Conducted Over 12,000 COVID-19 Tests as of October... No Confirmed Cases" (Update)

On the 10th, the Korean Central News Agency reported that the Nakrang District Sanitation and Quarantine Station in North Korea is strengthening its quarantine measures against the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). The photo shows quarantine station officials conducting fever checks. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Young-eun] A World Health Organization (WHO) official reported that North Korea conducted COVID-19 tests on over 12,000 people by the end of last month, but no confirmed cases were reported.

Edwin Salvador, head of the WHO Pyongyang office, stated in an interview with Radio Free Asia (RFA) on the 9th (local time) that the North Korean Ministry of Health reported conducting COVID-19 tests on 12,072 individuals by the 29th of last month, all of whom tested negative.

Salvador explained that most of those tested in North Korea were workers at entry points such as the land border areas of Nampo Port and Sinuiju, as well as quarantine centers, and that suspected influenza patients and those with severe acute respiratory infections were also included in the testing.

In a report published earlier this month, WHO stated that North Korea had conducted COVID-19 tests on 10,462 people by the 22nd of last month. This means the cumulative number of tests increased by 1,610 in just one week.

However, the number of new quarantined individuals during the week from the 22nd to the 29th of last month was 174, similar to the 161 reported the previous week.

Salvador explained, "The increase in the number of tests in the latter half of October was due to the rise in patients showing symptoms of influenza or severe acute respiratory infections as winter began."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.