Two weeks without new cases: Kim Jong Un declares coronavirus eradicated in North Korea

Two weeks without new cases
Kim Jong Un declares coronavirus eradicated in North Korea

Almost two and a half years after the first infections appeared, the corona virus reached North Korea. In May 2022, the strictly isolated state declared an epidemic emergency. The country’s leadership is now declaring the pandemic over.

Three months after the first confirmation of a corona outbreak in the country, North Korea says it has defeated the virus. According to the state-controlled media, ruler Kim Jong Un solemnly declared victory in the fight to eradicate the “new corona virus”. Kim made the statement Wednesday in Pyongyang at a national meeting on anti-epidemic measures. The campaign against the virus is now over, but North Korea must remain vigilant and effectively monitor the border areas, he was quoted as saying.

Kim’s sister Kim Yo-jong blamed enemies in South Korea for the outbreak. They would have smuggled the virus in with leaflets. South Korea continues to commit crimes against humanity by sending leaflets to North Korea. South Korea denies the allegations. “We deeply regret that North Korea has repeatedly made unfounded claims about the course of the corona infection and made very disrespectful and threatening statements,” the South Korean Unification Ministry said.

No broad test infrastructure

North Korea has not reported any new cases of illness or suspected cases related to the outbreak for almost two weeks. It is still unclear how many corona infections there have actually been. The strictly isolated country had officially confirmed infections with the pathogen for the first time in mid-May and spoke of an epidemic emergency. Accordingly, the omicron variant was in circulation. Since then, official usage has only referred to “fever cases”. Almost 4.8 million such cases have been recorded since the end of April, according to state media. There were 74 fatalities.

Experts assume that North Korea does not have sufficient test capacities. According to their own statements, however, the authorities immediately sent “mobile anti-epidemic” teams to those regions where fever cases had occurred in order to carry out PCR tests and antibody tests to determine the cause of the symptom.

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