Media reported that North Korea lifted travel restrictions in the capital Pyongyang, with the isolated country declaring that the Corona virus situation was under control after it first acknowledged the outbreak a few weeks ago.

North Korea has been fighting a fierce battle against an unprecedented wave of coronavirus since declaring a state of emergency and imposing a nationwide lockdown this month, raising concerns about vaccine, medical and food shortages.

Japan’s Kyodo news agency, citing an unnamed source in Beijing, said the restrictions had been lifted as of Sunday, while a spokesman for South Korea’s unification ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs, said he could not confirm the news because North Korea’s state media had not announces the decision.

The Kyodo report comes shortly after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un held a Politburo meeting to discuss adjusting anti-epidemic restrictions with their assessment that the situation surrounding the country’s first coronavirus outbreak is “improving.”

State media reports do not indicate the number of Covid-positive people infected and dead, but experts say the country’s dilapidated healthcare system will struggle to scale up testing and diagnosis.

And the Korean Central News Agency said North Korea had recorded 100,710 people developing fever symptoms and one death as of Sunday evening, up from about 390,000 two weeks ago, with the death toll rising to 70.