North Korea’s Questionable Coronavirus Status

With COVID-19 sweeping the world the past year, nearly every country has been affected. Several lucky countries, however, have managed to avoid any cases: Antarctica, several Pacific Island nations, and North Korea all report having 0 cases as of November 12, 2020.

Drastic measures have been enacted by most of the aforementioned countries in order to avoid COVID-19. In March, Tonga closed all of its airports and prohibited cruises from docking. The only allowed flights now are occasional repatriation flights, which are only permitted to those testing negative. Antarctica, despite allowing arrivals, requires extensive testing and a fourteen-day quarantine period prior to flying over.

North Korea’s status, on the other hand, is not so clear. With a population exceeding 25 million, North Korea is the most populous country in the world without cases. Though the hermit nation closed its borders extremely quickly January 23 and has adopted strict quarantining measures for both returning citizens and citizens displaying symptoms, some decisions have been questionable. In September, dictator Kim Jong Un rejected and returned a massive shipment of masks back to China, for fear that they were made in South Korea. More recently in October, videos taken of a military parade at Pyongyang revealed tightly packed crowds and no face masks. Additionally, defectors have called into question the integrity of North Korean statements, accusing North Korea of covering up outbreaks.

North Korea’s decisions for the future also draw further concern. On November 4, North Korea briefly re-opened customs offices in order to allow six Chinese stuck in North Korea ever since lockdown to return home. Though seemingly insignificant, partially reopened customs offices could eventually lead to a resumption of trade and ultimately a spread of cases. Additionally, North Korea is considering allowing their Chinese-descended residents to apply for exit visas for China, which could further worsen the situation. Given North Korea’s weak healthcare system, any outbreak could become potentially devastating.

Ethan Z.