For the first time in nearly ten days, North Korea announced that it has dropped below the 200 level.000 people found to have a "fever" in the previous 24 hours, while one patient succumbed, according to the state-run KCNA news agency, which called it a "positive trend" after taking measures to control the spread of the first officially confirmed outbreak of the new coronavirus pandemic.
The pandemic wave, announced on May 12, sparked concerns over the lack of vaccines, medicines, adequate medical infrastructure and the potential food crisis it could cause in the state of 25 million people. North Korea is not responding to overseas offers of help and is keeping its borders closed, with no way to verify official figures.
Lacking a sufficient number of tests, Pyongyang is not releasing what the confirmed number of cases of SARS-CoV-2 is, nor whether the deaths were actually due to COVID-19. However, based on the figures it has released, 2.6 million people became ill, of whom more than 2 million recovered, and the death toll stands at 67. But experts stress that these numbers may not reflect reality.
"The current situation regarding the spread of the epidemic () shows a positive trend," KCNA reported, citing a decrease in cases and an increase in the number of people recovering.
Last year, North Korea had asserted that it was developing its own equipment to do polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests. According to KCNA, moreover, the country is "accelerating the development of new antibody tests for early detection" of cases, KCNA said. Plus, the agency added, more than one million health workers, including students and teachers in medical schools, have been mobilized in an effort to "eradicate" the epidemic.
Source: APE-MPA
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