Lockdown Lifted: Is North Korea the New Covid-19 Success Story? | Bloomberg.com - Sangmi Cha:
June 1, 2022 - "Officials in the North Korean capital announced this week that they were easing the lockdown put in place less than three weeks ago, saying the outbreak was under control. They cited plunging case counts and patted themselves on the back for a job well done — all the while rejecting offers of international aid.
"Kim Jong Un rolled back lockdown measures hours after leading a Politburo meeting, with state media saying 'the pandemic situation is being controlled and improved across the country.' The official case count showed infections, known as 'fever cases' in the country where tests are scarce, falling to fewer than 100,000 a day from a peak of almost 400,000 on May 15. The country counted a total of more than 3.7 million 'fevered persons' since late April, of which 95% have recovered, according to the Korean Central News Agency. Its secret: traditional medicine such as herbs and plants....
"Choi Jung-hun, who worked as an infectious disease specialist in North Korea and defected to South Korea in 2012, said Pyongyang is only now disclosing the cases to allay fears over a noticeable wave of infections. Reports of a fast decline allows Kim to claim the credit for handling the outbreak so well. 'They reported a soaring number of cases for just over a week and are touting that the cases are already plunging,' Choi said. 'Kim won’t hesitate to go further to declare that the virus has been wiped out from the state around the time China eases lockdown.'
"Exactly how much damage the virus did within the country’s borders is unknown."
Today’s coronavirus news: China trumpets COVID victory again while Hong Kong quarantine backtrack stokes fears of quarantine return | Toronto.com - Toronto Star:
June 2, 2022 - "China declared victory over Shanghai’s coronavirus outbreak as the nation reported its fewest new cases in more than three months, vindicating COVID Zero in the eyes of Beijing despite the policy’s rising economic and social toll.
"A report on the front page of the People’s Daily newspaper Thursday headlined 'Great Achievements Have Been Made in the Defense of Shanghai' claimed victory in the fight against the virus in the city of 25 million. In a separate commentary, the chief mouthpiece of the Communist Party said it proved yet again that COVID Zero is the strategy most suited for China because of the country’s aging population, relatively low vaccination rate among the elderly and children, and inadequate medical resources.
"New infections fell to 61 across China on Wednesday, from 68 on Tuesday and the lowest since Feb. 17. It’s a marked turnaround from the tens of thousands of cases reported daily in the first half of April, when Shanghai’s outbreak appeared to be spiralling out of authorities’ control, triggering a citywide lockdown that disrupted business and upended people’s lives."
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