WHO "North Korea COVID-19 Tests Surpass 10,000... Zero Confirmed Cases"
On the 9th anniversary of the death of National Defense Commission Chairman Kim Jong-il, North Korean residents laid flowers at the statues of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il on Mansudae Hill in Pyongyang, Chosun Central TV reported on the 17th.
The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on the 21st (local time) that the number of people tested for the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in North Korea has exceeded 10,000, and the number of confirmed cases remains zero.
According to the 'Weekly COVID-19 Situation Report' released by WHO on the same day, as of the 10th, 10,960 people in North Korea have been tested for COVID-19, and all of them tested negative.
When COVID-19 spread in Wuhan, China, last January, North Korea immediately closed its borders. Currently, the COVID-19 prevention level has been raised to the highest level, "super emergency." The super emergency level means sealing off all areas including land, sea, and air, suspending gatherings and schooling, or completely locking down domestic regions.
With the 8th Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea scheduled for January next year, North Korea is making an all-out effort to block COVID-19 under a "decisive defense" posture. Kim Jong-un, Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of North Korea, publicly declared in October that there are no confirmed COVID-19 cases in North Korea.
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However, there are claims that North Korea's assertion of zero confirmed COVID-19 cases lacks credibility. On the 5th, Kang Kyung-wha, Minister of Foreign Affairs, attended the first session of the Manama Dialogue titled "COVID Pandemic Global Governance," held in Bahrain at the invitation of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), and said in a speech, "They (North Korea) still say there are no (COVID-19 confirmed) cases, but it is hard to believe," adding, "All signs show that the North Korean regime is very focused on controlling the disease (COVID-19) they claim does not exist."
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