North Korea Says Its COVID Situation Is 'Clearly Stable' — Numbers Tell A Different Story

While North Korean state media called the COVID-19 situation in the country "clearly stable," – the numbers being communicated by the country do not appear to be telling the whole truth.

It is not surprising, as many experts have previously shown concerns, that what North Korea is reporting is more of a fraction of the total cases, and there could be much more happening in the hermit country with a population of 25 million unimmunized citizens.

What Happened: According to the official data, North Korean state media claims that out of nearly 3 million COVID-19 infections cases, only about 68 people have succumbed to the virus, and the fatality rate is 0.002%.

Whereas if you compare the numbers to its neighbor South Korea, which recorded about 18 million cases since the pandemic began – its fatality rate stands at 0.13%, with 24,006 deaths. At the same time, the U.S. and India recorded a COVID fatality rate of 1.2%, while the world's average stood at nearly the same rate, according to the real-time data available on Worldometer as of May 24.

Zero COVID For the Last Two Years

North Korea claims that it is seeing a record number of cases after keeping the COVID at bay for more than two years. The country, led by the supreme leader Kim Jong-un,  previously said that it did not see even a single case of COVID-19 until April 2022, while nations around the world suffered from the disease despite strict protocols.

Keeping that in mind, it seems difficult for an outsider to judge the accuracy of the numbers being reported.

It is also worthy to note that the country has limited capabilities and a dilapidated healthcare system.

North Korea is among the only two nations around the world with no vaccination campaign. Even when the World Health Organization and the U.S. offered to help North Korea, Jong-un did not respond – signaling his disinterest in global vaccines.

Also Read: Kim Jong-Un, Who Slammed Army For 'Slackness' In Handling COVID-19 Crisis, Goes Maskless To Large Funeral

Media Says Situation Under Control 

The state-owned media has claimed that the country is seeing fast recoveries without vaccines or a shortage of medicines.

"The nation-wide morbidity and mortality rates have drastically decreased, and the number of recovered persons increased, resulting in effectively curbing and controlling the spread of the pandemic disease and maintaining the clearly stable situation," KCNA Watch said in its story titled, "More Measures Taken to Keep Stable Situation of Anti-Epidemic Campaign in DPRK."

The report claimed that ​​the country's health experts are also coming up with more "new methods of step-by-step treatment."

"Bigger successes are witnessed every day in the campaign for combating the malignant virus," the reported indicated.

Photo: Created with an image from Prachatai on Flickr