North Korea’s Official 0.002% Covid Death Rate Met With Disbelief
AP reporting notes only 69 are said to have died among about 3.3 million people infected. Meanwhile, North Korea's vaccine program is limited to only select groups of soldiers. Separately, the World Health Assembly condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
AP:
Widespread Disbelief Over N. Korea's Tiny COVID Death Rate
According to North Korea, its fight against COVID-19 has been impressive: About 3.3 million people have been reported sick with fevers, but only 69 have died. If all are coronavirus cases, that’s a fatality rate of 0.002%, something no other country, including the world’s richest, has achieved against a disease that has killed more than 6 million people. (Kim, 5/27)
Insider:
North Korea Is Calling Its Covid Vaccines An 'Immortal Potion Of Love' From Kim Jong Un: Report
Covid-stricken North Korea has finally begun its vaccination program — calling the COVID-19 jabs an "immortal potion of love" from their leader Kim Jong Un, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported. However, the vaccines are so far reserved only for soldiers working on national construction projects, according to the US-funded non-profit media outlet. (Yip, 5/27)
In other global developments —
The Washington Post:
WHO: World Health Assembly Votes To Condemn Russia Over Ukraine Invasion
The World Health Assembly on Thursday voted in favor of a resolution that condemned Russian attacks on the health-care system in Ukraine before rejecting a parallel proposal presented by Moscow that Kyiv’s representative to the United Nations in Geneva had called a “subterfuge” that presented a “twisted alternative reality” of the conflict. (Taylor, 5/26)
AP:
Cancer Patients Seek Damages From Fukushima Nuclear Plant
A Tokyo court began hearings Thursday in a lawsuit seeking nearly $5 million in damages for six people who were children in Fukushima at the time of its 2011 nuclear power plant disaster and later developed thyroid cancer. The plaintiffs are suing the operator of the nuclear plant, saying radiation released in the accident caused their illnesses. It is the first group lawsuit filed by Fukushima residents over health problems allegedly linked to the disaster, their lawyers say. (Yamaguchi, 5/26)
AP:
Chile Apologizes To Woman Forcibly Sterilized For HIV Status
Chile’s president publicly apologized to a woman who was sterilized without her consent at a public hospital two decades ago because she was HIV-positive, ending a years-long legal process that included taking her case to the Inter American Commission on Human Rights in Washington. (Politi, 5/26)
CIDRAP:
World's Second Human H3N8 Avian Flu Case Reported In China
The Hunan Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported last week that a retrospective H3N8 avian flu case was confirmed in Changsha City in a 5-year-old boy, according to a report translated and posted today on Avian Flu Diary (AFD), an infectious disease news blog. This case marks the world's second known infection from this particular avian flu strain, with the first case confirmed 1 month ago. (5/26)
