A miracle or a lie? A senior health official in Pyongyang reaffirmed on Thursday that North Korea had not registered any case of coronavirus on its territory since the start of the pandemic.
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea has closed all of its borders since the end of January, taking drastic measures of containment for its inhabitants, subjected to a regime of quarantine at home.
"Preventive and scientific measures"
"We have taken preventive and scientific measures, such as inspections and quarantine of all persons entering our country, complete disinfection of all goods, as well as the closing of borders and the termination of sea and air links Said Pak Myong Su, director of the anti-epidemic department at the National Center for Outbreak Control.
An absence of cases on the territory led by an iron fist by Kim Jong-un which many political and scientific leaders doubt, in particular Asian countries hit hard by the global pandemic which knows no borders.
Dead but not diagnosed?
North Korea borders China and South Korea, the two countries in this area most affected. And its health system is not known to be one of the best in the world. The commander of the American forces in South Korea, Robert Abrams, said that he was "almost certain" that the North had registered positive cases of Covid-19. Like Donald Trump who offered help to the country, in a letter sent to Kim Jong-un.
Choi Jung-hun, a former local doctor, a refugee since 2012 in the South, told AFP that he had "heard that there are many deaths in North Korea but the authorities do not say that it 'is due to coronavirus'.
If Pyongyang hides the cases, his health ministry has asked Unicef to send him diagnostic kits, masks, protective equipment and disinfectants. Equipment from China that arrived by land in Pyongyang last week.
World
Coronavirus LIVE: Spain crosses the bar of 10,000 victims of Covid-19…
World
North Korea: regime shoots two short-range missiles
- Covid 19
- Coronavirus
- Kim jong-un
- North Korea
- World
- epidemic
- Donald trump