The U.S. State Department has urged North Korea and other countries to immediately release hundreds of thousands of religious prisoners amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sam Brownback, the U.S. Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom, made the call on Thursday during a teleconference with reporters.

According to the Associated Press, the ambassador said that the coronavirus pandemic had made the situation more urgent, particularly in authoritarian countries known for repression of religious minorities. 

He cited China, Indonesia, Iran, Eritrea, North Korea, Russia and Vietnam as having significant numbers of prisoners of religious conscience in jails.

Brownback reportedly said that North Korea has a very high number of prisoners and they would be under exceeding exposure to the virus.