N.Korea's Kim declares victory over virus

11/8/2022 6:27

        North Korean leader Kim Jong Un
        has declared victory in the battle against the novel coronavirus
        and ordered a lifting of its maximum anti-epidemic measures
        imposed in May, state media KCNA said on Thursday.
        
        North Korea has not revealed how many confirmed infections
        of the virus it has found, but since July 29 it has reported no
        new suspected cases with what international aid organisations
        say are limited testing capabilities.
        
        Kim said North Korea's official death rate of 74 people is
        an "unprecedented miracle" compared to other countries, KCNA
        reported.
        
        Experts have said that the North's numbers are unlikely to
        show the whole picture.
        
        Its declaration of victory comes despite rolling out no
        known vaccine programme. Instead, the country says it relied on
        lockdowns, homegrown medicine treatments, and what Kim called
        the "advantageous Korean-style socialist system."
        
        He ordered the lifting of maximum anti-pandemic measures,
        but said that North Korea must maintain a "steel-strong
        anti-epidemic barrier and intensifying the anti-epidemic work
        until the end of the global health crisis."
        
        Kim's sister, Kim Yo Jong, said the North Korean leader
        himself had suffered from fever symptoms, and blamed leaflets
        from South Korea for causing the outbreak, KCNA reported.