North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and other senior officials discussed the review of strict anti-epidemic restrictions during a meeting on Sunday, state media reported, as they maintained a widely debated claim that the country’s first COVID-19 outbreak ‘is slowing down.
Key points:
- North Korea reported on Sunday that 89,500 patients had symptoms of fever, bringing the national total to 3.4 million.
- The country’s mortality rate of 0.0002% is discussed by external experts
- North Korea’s population of 26 million is largely unvaccinated
The discussion at the Northern Politburo meeting suggests that it will soon relax a set of draconian restrictions imposed after the admission of the Omicron outbreak this month out of concern over its food and economic situation.
Kim and other members of the Politburo “have made a positive assessment of the state of the pandemic that is being monitored and improved across the country,” the Korea Central News Agency (KCNA) said.
It also “examined the issue of coordinating and enforcing anti-epidemic regulations and guidelines effectively and expeditiously given the current stable anti-epidemic situation,” KCNA said.
On Sunday, North Korea reported 89,500 more patients with symptoms of fever, bringing the country’s total to 3.4 million.
He did not say if there were any additional deaths.
The last death toll in the country reported on Friday was 69, which set its mortality rate at 0.002 percent, an extremely low count that no other country, including advanced economies, has reported in the fight. against COVID-19.
The population of North Korea is largely unvaccinated. (Reuters: Kyodo News, file)
Many outside experts say North Korea is clearly underestimating its mortality rate to prevent any political harm to Kim in her home.
North Korea is said to have suffered many more deaths because its 26 million people are largely unvaccinated against COVID-19 and lack the capacity to treat critically ill patients.
Read more about the spread of COVID-19:
Others suspect that North Korea may have exaggerated its previous fever cases in an attempt to strengthen internal control of its population.
Since its admission on May 12 of the Omicron outbreak, North Korea has only been announcing the number of patients with febrile symptoms daily, but not those with COVID-19, apparently due to a shortage of test to confirm coronavirus cases in large numbers.
But many outside health experts consider most cases of fever reported as COVID-19, saying North Korean authorities would be able to distinguish symptoms from fevers caused by other prevalent infectious diseases.
The outbreak has forced North Korea to impose a nationwide blockade, isolate all work and residential units from each other and ban movements from region to region.
The country still allows key agricultural, construction and other industrial activities, but tougher restrictions have raised concerns about its food insecurity and a fragile economy that has already been hit hard by border closures caused by the pandemic.
Some observers say North Korea is likely to declare victory over COVID-19 soon and credit Kim’s leadership.
Yang Un-chul, an analyst at South Korea’s private Sejong Institute, said the North’s recent high restrictions must hit its coal, agriculture and other labor-intensive industries hard.
But he said that these difficulties are unlikely to develop to a level that threatens the control of Mr. Kim, as the outbreak of COVID-19 and heightened limitations have given him a chance to increase control of his people.
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