North Korea Brags About Combating COVID-19 Outbreak, Moves To Lift Restrictions Amid Rising Doubts Over Case Counts

The pandemic situation in North Korea is under control and improving, according to official media Korean Central News Agency, citing a meeting presided over by Chairman Kim Jong Un.

According to officials, the latest number of daily fever cases increased by 980. Over 89,500 instances were documented in the 24 hours ending May 28 at 6 pm. According to the data, the country has recorded a total of 3.44 million illnesses since the end of April, with 94 percent of them recovering.

North Korea Moves To Ease Curbs

Kim Jong Un has declared a state of emergency and mobilized soldiers to attempt to stop the spread of what the state deems a malicious virus. The North Korean leader held a meeting of the Political Bureau of the country's strong Workers' Party of Korea to analyze the outbreak.

The claim came after China detected fresh COVID-19 incidents in North Korean border towns. The United States has offered to supply COVID-19 vaccinations to North Korea, but President Joe Biden stated that Pyongyang has not reacted, The Star reported.

North Korea reported 89,500 additional individuals with fever symptoms on Sunday, bringing the country's total to 3.4 million. It was not stated whether there were any other fatalities. The country's most recent death toll was 69, putting its mortality rate at 0.002 percent, an exceptionally low figure that no other country, including wealthy ones, has reported in the fight against COVID-19.

According to many outside analysts, North Korea is blatantly understating its mortality rate to avoid political harm to Kim at home. They argue that North Korea should have experienced many more deaths since its 26 million people are mainly unvaccinated against COVID-19 and it cannot treat critically ill patients. Others believe North Korea overstated previous fever instances to improve the internal control of its populace.

Since admitting the omicron pandemic on May 12, North Korea has only announced the number of patients with feverish symptoms daily, but not those with COVID-19, owing to a paucity of test kits to confirm coronavirus cases in significant numbers.

Experts Doubt North Korea's Record of COVID-19 Cases

However, many international health experts believe that the majority of the reported fever cases are caused by COVID-19 and that North Korean authorities would be able to identify the symptoms of fevers produced by other common infectious illnesses.

The pandemic has compelled North Korea to institute a statewide lockdown, segregate all work and residential units from one another, and prohibit mobility across regions. The country still allows vital agricultural, construction, and other industrial activity, but the tightened limitations have raised concerns about food insecurity and the country's frail economy, which has already been affected severely by border closures due to the pandemic, according to Q107.

North Korean health authorities and specialists have been pressing for a long-term strategy to restructure and strengthen pandemic preparedness and response. North Korea, for example, has launched a scheme to create quarantine facilities with increased housing capacity and treatment conditions in Pyongyang and each province, as well as designating professional groups committed to disease prevention.

The nation has also taken steps to supply medical device firms with the materials needed to manufacture medical equipment such as respirators, patient monitoring systems, and oximeters, as per Korea Herald.

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