In total, more than 2.4 million people are said to have fallen ill and nearly 70 people are said to have died since the outbreak of “an unknown fever” in April, according to North Korea’s health authorities.
However, it is unclear whether the figures are correct and whether all victims really have covid. According to experts, North Korea does not have the capacity required to mass test for the disease.
The official figures are also believed to have been manipulated, probably in order to alleviate the political setback for dictator Kim Jong-Un, who during a meeting of the ruling party on Saturday is said to have claimed that the country “is beginning to gain control of the outbreak”.
When the pandemic broke out, North Korea closed the border and the country has claimed that it has managed to keep the virus away, until last week when the first covid case was confirmed and Kim Jong-Un announced a national shutdown. Over one million health workers have been mobilized to find people with fever and isolate them.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has previously expressed concern that the coronavirus could mutate into new variants in North Korea that lack vaccines and have inadequate healthcare.