As the news of more cases of Coronavirus being reported globally, spreading across nations, North Korea has maintained that the country has not reported even a single case of Coronavirus.
Globally the number of people affected by Coronavirus has crossed 90,000 across 67 countries. China alone has 80,152 confirmed cases of Coronavirus, as on March 3 with 2,945 deaths reported. Neighbouring country South Korea has reported second-highest cases of Coronavirus as of today, 5,186 people have confirmed to have been affected by the virus with 28 deaths reported so far.
Coronavirus epidemic stirred the world
When the virus has spread to distant countries including the US, Germany, Spain, France etc, it is surprising that North Korea is still marinating that not even a single person has been affected by COVID-19 despite sharing the border with most affected countries, China and South Korea.
In fact, as soon as the news of the virus broke, North Korea had in January itself had closed the borders to travel agencies and foreign nationals. Initially, it was said that 7,000 people had shown symptoms of Coronavirus were being monitored by the government. But now the news from the country states that there is not even a single case of Coronavirus infection in the country.
Official media outlets of North Korea said that the country was carrying out meticulous prevention efforts. But when compared to medical facilities in other countries, North Korea is said to have limited funding and pieces of equipment related to the health sector and a lack of advanced medical facilities in the rural areas.
Jong-un sanctioned the execution of the first person who tested positive: Report
Meanwhile, recently there was a report that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had sanctioned the execution of the first person who tested positive for coronavirus in the country. Reports claimed that the person was allegedly shot dead.
In another development, as the news of Coronavirus spreading worldwide grew, North Korea launched two unidentified projectiles in its first test of 2020. The last missile test was conducted in November.
China's UN Ambassador Zhang Jun has requested America to ease sanctions against North Korea in the wake of Coronavirus spreading across the globe. The testing of missiles by North Korea might be forced by Coronavirus spread in Asia, he said. He asked America to consider the humanitarian impact of sanctions on common people in North Korea.
