North Korea claims that all suspected cases of COVID-19 in the northern Ryanggang Province have been confirmed as influenza patients.

The state-run Korean Central News Agency(KCNA) reported on Friday that the state’s emergency quarantine command made the diagnosis after monitoring the patients' symptoms and conducting an epidemiological study and nucleic acid tests.

It added that the patients have since recovered and lockdowns in the area have been lifted.

On Thursday, the North's state media reported that four people suffering from fevers were suspected of being infected with a “malignant infectious disease,” the regime’s euphemistic term for COVID-19.

Despite Pyongyang’s earlier declaration of victory in its fight against COVID-19, Seoul's unification ministry spokesperson Lee Hyo-jeong said a resurgence of the virus within the North cannot be ruled out.

[Photo : YONHAP News]