WHO "Estimated Worsening of COVID-19 Situation in North Korea"

"Supporting North Korea in Cooperation with South Korea and China"

North Korea announced that the spread of COVID-19 in the country has stabilized, but the World Health Organization (WHO) refuted this, estimating that the situation is worsening. The photo shows a quarantine inspection taking place in Pyongyang. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Wooseok] The World Health Organization (WHO) has refuted North Korea's announcement that its COVID-19 spread is stabilizing, stating that the situation is estimated to be worsening.

According to AFP, Mike Ryan, head of the WHO Emergency Response Team, said on the 1st (local time) that due to limited information on North Korea's COVID-19 spread, an accurate assessment is difficult, but "the situation is estimated not to be improving and is worsening."

On the 31st of last month, the Korean Central News Agency cited the National Emergency Anti-epidemic Command, reporting that 96,020 new fever patients occurred nationwide in one day. Looking at the statistics announced by North Korea, the number of new fever patients sharply increased to 174,440 on the 13th, 296,180 on the 14th, and 392,920 on the 15th of last month, but in recent days, it appears to have decreased to around 100,000 per day.

Since the end of April until now, the total cumulative number of fever patients is about 3,645,620, of which approximately 3,462,610 have recovered, and 182,940 are still receiving treatment. The total number of deaths was announced as 69.

However, there are continuous criticisms that North Korea's statistics are unreliable due to the extremely low death rate of 0.0002% compared to the scale of fever patients.

Ryan emphasized that since the majority of North Korean residents have not been vaccinated, controlling the outbreak is currently the most important. He also stated that COVID-19 vaccines have been provided to North Korea three times so far and support is ongoing.

He further stated that WHO is cooperating with China and South Korea in supporting North Korea.

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