North Korea’s virus outbreak ‘getting worse, not better’: WHO 

Geneva: A top official at the World Health Organization (WHO) said the U.N. health agency assumes the coronavirus outbreak in North Korea is “getting worse, not better,” despite the secretive country’s recent claims that it is slowing down.

The WHO lamented that it had no access to data about North Korea's Covid-19 outbreak, but assumed the crisis was deepening, contrary to Pyongyang's reports of "progress"   

At a news briefing on Wednesday, WHO’s emergencies chief Dr. Mike Ryan appealed to North Korean authorities for more information about the virus outbreak there, saying, “We have real issues in getting access to the raw data and to the actual situation on the ground.”

He said WHO has not received any privileged information about the epidemic — unlike in typical outbreaks when countries may share more sensitive data with the organization so it can evaluate the public health risks for the global community.

“It is very, very difficult to provide a proper analysis to the world when we don’t have access to the necessary data,” he said.

Previously, WHO has voiced concerns about the impact of the virus in North Korea’s population, which is believed to be largely unvaccinated and whose fragile health systems could struggle to deal with a surge in cases prompted by the highly infectious omicron and its subvariants. 

It is pertinent to mention here that WHO had offered technical assistance and supplies to North Korea multiple times, including offering Covid-19 vaccines on at least three separate occasions—however, country’s officials refused.