COVID-19 is everywhere – or is it?
Strange as it may sound, there are 11 countries that have remained pandemic free since the coronavirus has plagued the rest of the world.
Not shockingly, these are islands in the Pacific with little or no outside traffic, which closed early and banished all international visitors from their shores. The 11 countries, according to the Star, that have not recorded a single case of COVID are:
The Cook Islands
Population: 17,000
Precautions include closing schools on Rarotonga, the most populous of the 15 islands in the country, and promoting social distance in public – but after a few weeks, life has returned to normal.
Tuvalu
Population: 11,500
Borders were immediately closed with a strict two-week quarantine imposed on anyone entering the country.
Tonga
Population: 104,000
This island nation early on diverted cruise ships and enforced a ban on international travel.
Pitcairn Islands
Population: 50
The population was entirely populated by the descendants of the famous HMS Bounty mutineers and a handful of Tahitian prisoners, who landed on the islands in 1789, and no COVID-19 case has yet been recorded here.
Palau
Population: 17,900
The country consists of more than 300 islands and has suspended all travel and imposed a strict quarantine for citizens returning home.
Niue
Population: 1,624
Nauru
Population: 12,700
It may be COVID-10 free, but life for many on this island is still hellish. One of the poorest countries on earth, to earn money, the government leases most of its land to Australia for use as an internment camp for illegal immigrants and refugees.
Kiribati
Population: 116,000
Very few airlines actually fly into Kiribati, so it was easier for this country to draft a travel ban.
Tokelau
Population: 1,411
This small nation, halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand, is still COVID-19 free.
Micronesia
Population: 112,000
The government consists of more than 600 islands and warned early on: ‘No passengers may board any aircraft or seaplane from outside the Federal States of Micronesia, with the exception of individuals who are exempt from the National Government or those who work to commercial seagoing vessels that comply with precautionary measures and protocols. ”
Turkmenistan
Population: 5 million
The only non-island nation in the group, this country in Central Asia just didn’t record any cases – so, voila! No COVID! The question of whether it is actually COVID-free can be discussed.