Two possible reasons behind recent mask-苹果im虚拟机

Two possible reasons behind recent mask

2024-05-29 11:14:45

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is <strong></strong>surrounded by war veterans in front of a monument celebrating the country's 'victory' in the Korean War (1950-53) in Pyongyang, North Korea, on July 27, the 69th anniversary of the end of the war, in this photo released July 28 by the North's official Korean Central News Agency. Yonhap

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is surrounded by war veterans in front of a monument celebrating the country's "victory" in the Korean War (1950-53) in Pyongyang, North Korea, on July 27, the 69th anniversary of the end of the war, in this photo released July 28 by the North's official Korean Central News Agency. Yonhap

Enough people may be immune, or many 'fever' cases could be unrelated, experts say

By Jung Min-ho

North Korea's official numbers of suspected COVID-19 cases and photos of the ruling elite in recent weeks suggest that it is clearly making progress against the coronavirus despite almost no vaccination efforts, according to experts Monday.

North Korea's number of new suspected COVID-19 cases remained at zero for the third consecutive day, according to the Korean Central News Agency, Pyongyang's official mouthpiece. On Monday, it reported that no additional fever cases had been confirmed over the previous 24 hours until 6 p.m. the previous day. The total number of such cases from late April stood at 4.77 million, of which 99.99 percent had recovered, it claimed. The number of deaths remains at 74 and its fatality rate is below 0.0016, far lower than South Korea's 0.12.

Given the two undeniable reports from the North ― that fever cases spiked before falling and that leader Kim Jong-un recently appeared in the middle of a crowd of war veterans without masks ― experts have laid out two scenarios: either that enough North Koreans are now immune to COVID-19, thanks partly to their stronger immune systems, or that most of the fever cases were not COVID-related in the first place.

"North Koreans may have a stronger active immunity, given that they are exposed to all sorts of infectious diseases," Choi Jung-hoon, a former infectious disease doctor from the North, told The Korea Times. "It is important to keep in mind that its official numbers should not be trusted. If it (herd immunity) was the case, this means that a lot more people died and suffered from COVID-19 in the process than the numbers claim … The progress has also been helped by its draconian measures, which would be politically impossible in democratic countries."

Citing his sources in North Korea, Choi said there was no significant vaccine campaign there. "There are people who have received vaccine shots, including those who must visit China for trade matters, but not a significant number of people," he added.

Choi is not alone in his belief that North Korea's unsanitary conditions may have saved many people from severe COVID-19 symptoms. Some research papers by Indian scientists, including "COVID 19 mortality: Probable role of microbiome to explain disparity," also argue that those living in low- and middle-income states may have been able to stave off severe forms of the infection due to exposure to various pathogens in their childhoods, which give them sturdier immune systems.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un wearing a mask inspects a pharmacy in Pyongyang, North Korea, May 15, in this photo released May 16 by the official North Korean Central News Agency. Yonhap

Cheong Seong-chang, the director of the Center for North Korean Studies at the Sejong Institute, a think tank, said it is more reasonable to believe that many of the North's fever cases have been waterborne infectious diseases such as typhoid fever.

"Given the North's May 15 data showing the high fatality rate among children under 10 (16 percent, which is far higher than South Korea's 0.09 percent), many of the fever cases might have not been COVID-19," he said. "Heavy rains over recent weeks might have improved the situation for the North as they washed away pollutants … Its numbers may not be accurate, but it would not try to exaggerate too much."

His assessment echoes that of the National Intelligence Service, which reported on May 19 to the National Assembly that waterborne infectious diseases had already been prevalent when Pyongyang reported its first official case of COVID-19 on May 12.

"What's clear is that pictures of major political events recently show North Korea has made much progress against COVID-19. One photo shows Kim is surrounded by older soldiers ― the most vulnerable group to the disease ― without masks on the 69th anniversary of the end of the Korean War (1950-53)," Cheong said. "But if the North has no herd immunity to COVID-19 as I assume, it could reemerge at any time."

（作者：新闻中心）

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