COVID-19 is everywhere – or is it?
Strange as it may seem, there are 11 countries that have been without a pandemic since the coronavirus devastated the rest of the world.
Not surprisingly, these are Pacific island nations with little or no foreign traffic and which were blocked early, banning all international visitors from their shores. The 11 countries, according to Star, that have not registered any case of COVID are:
Cook Islands
Population: 17,000
Precautions included closing schools on Rarotonga, the country’s most populous of the island’s 15 islands, and encouraging social distancing in public – but after a few weeks, life returned to normal.
Tuvalu
Population: 11,500
The borders were immediately closed with a strict two-week quarantine imposed on anyone entering the country.
Tonga
Population: 104,000
Initially, this island nation redirected cruise ships and implemented a ban on international travel.
Pitcairn Islands
Population: 50
Entirely populated by the descendants of the famous rebels of HMS Bounty and a handful of Tahitian captives, who landed on the islands in 1789, no COVID-19 case has been recorded here.
Palau
Population: 17,900
Consisting of more than 300 islands, the country suspended all travel and instituted a strict quarantine for citizens returning home.
Niue
Population: 1,624
Nauru
Population: 12,700
COVID-10 may be free, but life for many on this island is still infernal. One of the poorest countries on earth, in order to make money, the government rents most of its land in Australia to use it as an internment camp for illegal immigrants and refugees.
Kiribati
Population: 116,000
Very few airlines actually fly to Kiribati, so it was easier for this nation to establish a travel ban.
Tokelau
Population: 1,411
Located halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand, this small nation is still free of COVID-19.
MICRONESIA
Population: 112,000
Consisting of more than 600 islands, the government warned in advance: “No passenger shall be allowed to disembark any air or seagoing vessel from outside the Federated States of Micronesia, except for persons granted an exception by the national government, or of those working on merchant ships complying with precautions and protocols. ”
Turkmenistan
Population: 5 million
The only non-island nation in the group, this Central Asian country simply did not register any case – so voila! No COVID! As to whether it is in fact without COVID, it is under debate.