North Korea has yet to see its people infected with the virus that causes COVID-19, which has left over 1,800 dead and 72,000 infected in neighboring China, its state-run newspaper reported Tuesday.

“So far, we haven't seen a single patient infected with the virus,” the newspaper said quoting a senior official in charge of the matter. The report did not mention whether the country has any suspicious cases or people under quarantine.

But, the senior official cautioned that authorities cannot predict or attend to every transmission route of COVID-19, so they have to take stronger quarantine measures. The North Korean government rolled out nationwide anti-virus measures on Jan. 28.

By Choi Si-young (siyoungchoi@heraldcorp.com)