North Korea has blamed its Covid-19 outbreak on balloons sent to its South border by groups of deserters, in an apparent attempt to blame its neighbor.
After two years of insisting it had not reported any cases of the virus, the North admitted its first infections on May 12, sparking fears of a public health disaster in the impoverished country.
On Friday, the country reported that 4,570 people had new symptoms of fever, bringing the total number of cases to 4.74 million. Health authorities are referring to the symptoms of fever instead of Covid-19, apparently due to the scarcity of test kits. The north has only recorded 73 deaths.
The official KCNA news agency said Friday that an 18-year-old soldier and a five-year-old boy who had touched “unidentified materials” in eastern Kumgang County in early April showed symptoms and then gave positive for Covid-19.
“There was a sharp increase in fever cases among their contacts and a group of feverish people emerged in the area … for the first time,” he said.
However, the first time it is believed that groups of North Korean deserters sent balloons to the border this year was in late April from the western Gimpo region.
KCNA warned citizens to “treat with vigilance alien things coming by wind and other climatic phenomena and balloons in areas along the demarcation line and borders.”
Although the report did not name South Korea, desert activists there use balloons to send leaflets against the regime and humanitarian aid across the countries ’heavily armed border.
In response, the Southern Unification Ministry said Friday that there was “no chance” that the coronavirus would have entered the north via balloons.
Experts were skeptical about Pyongyang’s claim. “It’s hard to believe North Korea’s claim, scientifically speaking, given that the chance of the virus spreading through objects is quite low,” said Yang Moo-jin, a professor at Korea University of Studies. from the North to Seoul.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the risk of people becoming infected from contact with contaminated surfaces or objects is generally considered low, though not impossible.
The regime has not publicly accepted a more plausible explanation: that Covid entered North Korea after resuming cross-border trade with China.
“If they concluded that the virus was from China, they would have had to tighten quarantine measures at the border area in a new setback for trade between North Korea and China,” said Lim Eul-chul, a professor at the Institute of Far Eastern Studies at Kyungnam University.
Reports from North Korean authorities suggest the country avoided a catastrophic outbreak, although it is impossible to independently verify official statistics on cases and deaths.
Pyongyang has rejected external offers of humanitarian aid, including Covid-19 vaccines and medical supplies, to help it overcome the pandemic, and has accused the United States of using the gesture to downplay its policy. ” hostile “to the North.
The North Korean Foreign Ministry said the United States was being sincere in offering aid as it continued to conduct military exercises and pushed for more sanctions in response to the regime’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs.