North Korea's Covid outbreak is over, says Kim Jong-un
Kim Jong-un has declared "victory" over the virus, despite the lack of vaccines. Outside experts have cast doubt on the North's pandemic-related claims.
SEOUL – North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has said the country has ended its coronavirus outbreak without vaccines, state media reported on Thursday, while Mr Kim's sister accused South Korea of sending the virus across the border and threatened "deadly" retaliation ".
After two years of claiming no cases of Covid-19, North Korea reported an outbreak in May, announcing a "maximum emergency" and locking down all its cities and counties. On Wednesday, Kim "solemnly declared victory" in "exterminating the novel coronavirus that had made inroads into our territory", the Korean Central News Agency reported.
Mr. Kim, speaking at a meeting with national health officials, said his government would reduce its anti-disease vigilance to "ordinary" levels from Friday, according to the report.
Outside experts have cast doubt on the North's Covid-related claims, including its past assertions that there were no cases. The figures it has released since May have also been viewed with skepticism, in part because the isolated and impoverished country does not have enough test kits or labs to accurately track a major outbreak.
According to Thursday's report, Mr Kim said that all Covid patients identified by his government had been diagnosed with the Omicron BA.2 subvariant. Although North Korea reported 4.7 million cases of people developing high fever during the outbreak, it never said how many confirmed Covid-19 infections.
The North, which has a population of about 26 million, has reported only 74 deaths during the outbreak. Even these deaths were officially attributed to "malignant pandemic disease" or "malignant virus", not explicitly to Covid.
South Korean intelligence officials told lawmakers that some of the North- Koreans with fever symptoms could have had illnesses like whooping cough, measles or typhoid.
North Korea said its outbreak started in late April . Its number of daily reported cases of people with fever peaked at 390,000 on May 16. In recent weeks, that figure has fallen below 100,000, and the government has started to say it has the outbreak under control. It reported no new cases. since July 29.
During Wednesday's meeting with Kim, North Korean officials said it was "an unprecedented miracle in the global public health history" that the North ended the outbreak so quickly despite never vaccinating its population, according to the state media report.
Last month the North suggested that the coronavirus had entered the country on
Kim Jong-un has declared "victory" over the virus, despite the lack of vaccines. Outside experts have cast doubt on the North's pandemic-related claims.
SEOUL – North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has said the country has ended its coronavirus outbreak without vaccines, state media reported on Thursday, while Mr Kim's sister accused South Korea of sending the virus across the border and threatened "deadly" retaliation ".
After two years of claiming no cases of Covid-19, North Korea reported an outbreak in May, announcing a "maximum emergency" and locking down all its cities and counties. On Wednesday, Kim "solemnly declared victory" in "exterminating the novel coronavirus that had made inroads into our territory", the Korean Central News Agency reported.
Mr. Kim, speaking at a meeting with national health officials, said his government would reduce its anti-disease vigilance to "ordinary" levels from Friday, according to the report.
Outside experts have cast doubt on the North's Covid-related claims, including its past assertions that there were no cases. The figures it has released since May have also been viewed with skepticism, in part because the isolated and impoverished country does not have enough test kits or labs to accurately track a major outbreak.
According to Thursday's report, Mr Kim said that all Covid patients identified by his government had been diagnosed with the Omicron BA.2 subvariant. Although North Korea reported 4.7 million cases of people developing high fever during the outbreak, it never said how many confirmed Covid-19 infections.
The North, which has a population of about 26 million, has reported only 74 deaths during the outbreak. Even these deaths were officially attributed to "malignant pandemic disease" or "malignant virus", not explicitly to Covid.
South Korean intelligence officials told lawmakers that some of the North- Koreans with fever symptoms could have had illnesses like whooping cough, measles or typhoid.
North Korea said its outbreak started in late April . Its number of daily reported cases of people with fever peaked at 390,000 on May 16. In recent weeks, that figure has fallen below 100,000, and the government has started to say it has the outbreak under control. It reported no new cases. since July 29.
During Wednesday's meeting with Kim, North Korean officials said it was "an unprecedented miracle in the global public health history" that the North ended the outbreak so quickly despite never vaccinating its population, according to the state media report.
Last month the North suggested that the coronavirus had entered the country on
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