North Korea claims it tested more than 11,700 people for COVID-19 and has zero confirmed cases of the virus as of Dec. 17, according to a new World Health Organization (WHO) report.

This week, WHO said that the DPRK recorded 23,140 COVID-19 test samples across 11,707 people as of Dec. 17. The latest update suggests that North Korea tested 777 people for COVID-19 during the week of Dec. 11 to Dec. 17 alone.

The DPRK periodically sends updates on its COVID-19 statistics, but WHO and other agencies are generally unable to independently verify those numbers. The country has maintained a