“At the moment there are no signals, there are no indications we are dealing with any COVID-19 there,” Dr Mike Ryan, head of WHO’s emergencies program, told a news conference in Geneva on Tuesday.
COVID-19 is the name of the disease caused by the new coronavirus.
WHO officials had “no reason to believe that there are any specific issues” going on in North Korea and it would be providing the North with more laboratory supplies to conduct diagnostic tests, Ryan said.
Some South Korean media outlets have reported multiple cases and possible deaths from the virus in North Korea, but there has been no independent verification.
On Tuesday, Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of North Korea’s ruling party, quoted a public health official reiterating “no confirmed case of the new coronavirus so far”.
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