Another communist country heard from, and it leaves one wondering, 'Can we trust anything from this government?' It's bad enough that it's become pretty clear that we can't trust the communist government of China, but now North Korea is chiming in with their own claims.
A top health official in Pyongyang, North Korea has claimed that "not one single person has been infected with the novel coronavirus [COVID-19] in our country so far," according to the multiple outlets who all claim that Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported the story (sources below).
"We have carried out pre-emptive and scientific measures such as inspections and quarantine for all personnel entering our country and thoroughly disinfecting all goods, as well as closing borders and blocking sea and air lanes," Pak Myong-su, a director at North Korea's Central Emergency Anti-epidemic headquarters said on Friday.
Here's video from The South China Morning Post on the claim:
U.S. General Robert Adams told CNN and VOA that North Korea's claim is "impossible."
"I can tell you that is an impossible claim based on all of the intel that we have seen," Adams said.
According to Yahoo! News:
Nearly every other country has reported coronavirus cases, with the World Health Organization saying on Wednesday that there were nearly one million confirmed infections globally.
Aside from China, South Korea endured one of the worst early outbreaks of the virus, which has claimed more than 45,000 lives around the world.
Experts have said the North is particularly vulnerable to the virus because of its weak medical system, and defectors have accused Pyongyang of covering up an outbreak.
Folks, I'm not going to give this much more oxygen than it deserves, because this seems to most likely be a case of another authoritarian government spreading misinformation.
Sources: South China Morning Post, BBC, Yahoo! News, MSN, The Guardian