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Russia sends tools to diagnose novel coronavirus to North Korea

In all, 1,500 testing tools were sent, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry

MOSCOW, February 26. /TASS/. Moscow has provided 1,500 tools to Pyongyang to rapidly diagnose the novel coronavirus, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

"Since the risk of the spread of the COVID-19 infection is still there, Russia has fulfilled North Korea’s request and provided Pyongyang with 1,500 tools to rapidly diagnose the coronavirus," the statement reads. "We expect the move to facilitate efforts to prevent the virus from entering North Korea," the Russian Foreign Ministry added.

Coronavirus outbreak

In late December 2019, Chinese authorities notified the World Health Organization (WHO) about the outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, central China. Coronavirus cases have also been reported in 37 countries, including Russia.

According to Chinese authorities, about 78,000 people have been infected with the virus in the country. The death toll has passed 2,700, while over 29,700 patients have recovered.

The WHO declared the outbreak of the novel coronavirus a global health emergency and named the virus COVID-19.