On Friday, the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un held a ceremony to thank and praise military medics for spearheading the country's fight against the coronaviruses in the capital Pyongyang, state media said on Friday. Thousands of medical staff from the Korean People's Army were discharged after Kim declared victory over COVID 19 and eased restrictions last week.
Kim held the event at the April 25 House of Culture in Pyongyang on Thursday to celebrate the medics' heroic feats on the frontline of the COVID 19 battle in the country's most populated city.
The army medics have taken the greatest effort to defuse the anti-epidemic crisis in the capital city, and he thanked them for their indefatigable spirit and the invincible combat strength of our army, the official KCNA news agency said. He specially called and congratulated medics who performed distinguished feats in the capital's anti-epidemic struggle. KCNA said this week that the medics had returned to their units on Sunday without a sending-off ceremony, but Kim said that he had felt empty and sorry that he had not done enough to publicly recognise their sacrifice.
North Korea has never confirmed how many people have been caught with COVID - 19 because they didn't have the tools to conduct widespread testing.
Infectious disease experts have cast doubts on North Korea's claims of progress, and the World Health Organization said the situation in COVID-19 could be worse, not better, because of the lack of independent data.