The WHO expressed concern on Wednesday May 17 about the devastation that Omicron can cause on the unvaccinated population of North Korea and reiterated its offer of assistance ranging from vaccines to medical equipment.
Read alsoThe spread of Covid in North Korea probably linked to a military parade according to experts
“
WHO is deeply concerned about the risk that Covid-19 will spread even further across the country, especially since the population is not vaccinated and many people have medical histories that put them at risk. risk of developing a serious form of the disease
”, warned the head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, during a regular press briefing in Geneva.
For the time being, the Pyongyang authorities do not seem to have responded to calls from the UN and the WHO has admitted that it cannot do anything but wait for a green light to help.
WHO ready to help
Tuesday morning, the High Commissioner for Human Rights had already said it was "
deeply worried
" about the effect of the Covid-19 epidemic on the human rights situation in this reclusive dictatorship.
Dr. Tedros recalled that the WHO was ready to provide assistance, whether in the form of vaccines, medicines, but also tests and other equipment that could be lacking in a North Korean health system which could very quickly be damaged. be overwhelmed.
An offer also made to Eritrea, the only other country not to have started to vaccinate its population.
Maria van Kerkhove, responsible for coordinating the fight against Covid-19 within the organisation, for her part insisted on the fact that - contrary to a very widespread myth - the Omicron variant of the virus which gives Covid is not "
benign
".
Omicron and all of its subvariants can cause the full range of Covid-19: from asymptomatic cases to very severe and even fatal forms.
“Serious consequences”
“
The latest restrictions, including putting people in strict isolation and new restrictions on movement, will have serious consequences for those who are already struggling to meet their basic needs,
” said Elizabeth Throssell, door -speaker of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, during a UN briefing in Geneva.
The High Commission encouraged the North Korean authorities to ensure "
that the measures taken to combat the pandemic are indispensable, proportionate, non-discriminatory, limited in time and respect international human rights law
" .
, underlined Elizabeth Throssel.
She also reiterated High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet's appeal to the international community to ease sanctions against Pyongyang "
to facilitate emergency humanitarian aid and Covid-related assistance
".
"
We encourage the authorities of the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) to speak urgently with the UN to open humanitarian channels
" and "
facilitate the return of international staff from the UN and other organizations to Korea North, to be able to help get aid to the most vulnerable as well as those living in rural and border areas
," added Elizabeth Throssel.
Read alsoAsia trapped in its zero Covid strategy
Despite large-scale confinements, the death toll stood at 56 on Monday evening, more than 1,483,060 cases of “
fever
” and 663,910 people under treatment, according to the official KCNA agency.
North Korea's healthcare system was ranked 193rd out of 195 countries in a study by Johns Hopkins University of the United States last year.
The country's hospitals are poorly equipped, with few intensive care units.
According to experts, the country has no treatment for Covid-19 and does not have the capacity to massively test its population.
