NKorea says no new fever cases amid COVID data doubts

North Korea on Saturday reported no new cases for the first time since it abruptly admitted to its first domestic COVID-19 outbreak and placed its 26 million people under more draconian restrictions in May.

There have been widespread outside doubts about the accuracy of North Korean statistics as its reported fatalities sit low and daily cases of the virus have been plummeting fast.Some experts say North Korea has likely manipulated the scale of illness and deaths to help leader Kim Jong Un maintain absolute control amid mounting economic difficulties.

The North’s state emergency anti-epidemic center said via state media it had found zero fever patients in the latest 24-hour period.It said its total caseload was about 4.8 million and that about 99.99% of them have fully recovered.

North Korea’s claimed zero cases could still have symbolic significance in its efforts to establish Kim's image as a leader who has controlled the outbreak much faster than other countries.