WHO "North Korea COVID-19 Situation Appears to Be Worsening"

North Korea's Korean Central News Agency reported on the 31st of last month that "combatants in the medical sector of the Korean People's Army are responsibly managing the supply of medicines in accordance with the requirements of a 24-hour service system."
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] Contrary to North Korea's claim that the spread of COVID-19 has stabilized with fewer than 100,000 fever patients for three consecutive days, the World Health Organization (WHO) appears to be reporting that the situation is worsening.

Mike Ryan, head of the WHO Emergency Response Team, stated on the 1st (local time) regarding the spread of COVID-19 in North Korea, "It is estimated that the situation is not improving but worsening." However, he made this statement on the premise that it is difficult to make an accurate assessment due to limited related information.

On the 2nd, the Korean Central News Agency, citing the National Emergency Anti-epidemic Command, reported that from 6 p.m. on the 31st of last month to 6 p.m. on the 1st, approximately 96,610 new fever patients occurred nationwide. No statistics on deaths were mentioned. According to this, the daily number of new fever patients in North Korea has remained below 100,000 for three consecutive days since the 30th of last month.

According to North Korea's announcement, the spread peaked at about 392,920 cases on the 15th of last month and has been continuously decreasing since. The cumulative number of fever patients counted since the end of April is approximately 3,835,420, of which about 3,669,950 have recovered, and about 165,390 are still receiving treatment.

However, considering that the fatality rate compared to the number of fever patients disclosed by North Korea is only 0.002%, and the number of deaths is too low, there are ongoing concerns that it is difficult to fully trust these figures released by North Korea. Even the WHO, considering the difficulty in obtaining related information and the challenge of accurate situation analysis, views it as unlikely that the spread of COVID-19 in North Korea has significantly improved.

Ryan stated that since North Korean residents have not been vaccinated against COVID-19, controlling the outbreak is currently of utmost importance, and that WHO continues to offer COVID-19 vaccine support to North Korea.

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