WHO Warns of   Exacerbation of  Corona Crisis in North Korea

The World Health Organization (WHO) regretted that it did not have access to data on the spread of the Coronavirus (known also as COVID-19)   in North Korea.

But the UN organization assumed that the crisis was worsening, despite Pyongyang's reports that the situation had improved.

North Korea, which announced the first cases of COVID-19 on May 12, said last week that the epidemic had been brought under control, and state media reported a decrease in the number of infections.

But the director of emergencies at the World Health Organization, Michael Ryan, questioned that information, telling reporters.

Rayan added that experts of the WHO    believe the situation is getting worse and not improving," acknowledging that North Korea, which is closed in on itself, provided only very limited information.

"At the moment, we are not in a position to make a proper assessment of the gravity of the situation on the ground," he added.

He  noted that "it is very difficult to provide a proper analysis of the world when we do not have access to the necessary data."

For her part, WHO official in charge of combating COVID-19, Maria Van Kerkhove, said that North Korea had recorded about 3.7 million suspected cases, although the official toll referred only to cases of "fever".

Last Friday, the state-run Korean Central News Agency reported that the number of COVID-19 infections fell for the seventh consecutive day, with just over 100,000 new "fever" cases recorded within 24 hours, down from the 390,000 daily infections the country recorded earlier in May.