North Korean state media has quietly dropped its claim that the COVID-19 novel coronavirus has not infected a single person within the country. 

The last time the DPRK claimed to be virus-free was more than three weeks ago, on July 30. Before that, several state media organizations, including the domestically-circulated Rodong Sinmun newspaper, routinely underscored that the country had not encountered COVID-19.

However, North Korea at least had a scare in late July, when state media reported a “suspected” case of COVID-19 in a redefector who swam over from South Korea and made his way to the border city of