WHO: COVID-19 epidemic in North Korea appears to be “getting worse”

State media North Korea said, the wave COVID-19 in this country has decreased, after the number of case of fever daily up to 390,000 people about two weeks ago.

Pyongyang has never directly confirmed how many people have tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus, but experts suspect that North Korea’s report may not be accurate when the figures are released. The announcement through the media controlled by the Government of this country is incomplete, making it difficult to assess the actual scale of the epidemic situation.

“We think the situation is getting worse, not better,” WHO Emergencies Program Director Michael Ryan said at a meeting.

Michael Ryan confirmed that WHO does not have access to any privileged information related to the COVID-19 situation in North Korea other than the numbers publicly reported by the country’s state media.

According to Ryan, WHO is working with neighboring countries such as South Korea and China to try to get a clearer overall picture of the epidemic in North Korea.

Distributing medicine to people, strengthening epidemic prevention measures in Pyongyang, May 16. (Photo: AP)

Previously, WHO had offered to support North Korea many times in the fight against the epidemic in the country, including COVID-19 vaccines and medical supplies.

North Korea has recorded an additional 96,610 people with fever amid a nationwide shutdown aimed at preventing the outbreak of COVID-19 that was first confirmed in the country, North Korea’s state news agency KCNA said on June 1. this country. KCNA did not mention whether there were any new deaths.

According to KCNA, the provinces are intensifying their anti-epidemic campaign, including enforcing a number of orders to close and blockade coastal areas, increase production of drugs and medical supplies, and carry out disinfection work. . However, major work such as farming continues.

KCNA reported that North Korean Prime Minister Kim Tok Hun inspected several pharmaceutical factories as North Korea pushed to bring its pharmaceutical industry to “a new level”, including meeting According to international standards: “Manufacturing and supplying enough drugs is a prerequisite to protect people’s lives and health in the current strict anti-epidemic fight”.

COVID-19 epidemic in North Korea: The wave of fever cases is decreasing, the death toll is low VTV.vn – On May 27, North Korean state media said that the country’s health authorities are checking rivers and lakes, air, domestic wastewater and garbage for the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

1 more death from COVID-19, North Korea tests samples from water and air VTV.vn – In the capital Pyongyang, health officials have carried out testing of river water and air to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

North Korea eases restrictions, Shanghai lifts epidemic prevention measures VTV.vn – By the morning of May 29, the world had over 531.54 million people infected with COVID-19, of which more than 6.31 million had died from this pandemic.

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