With over a year since the start of the global coronavirus pandemic, the situation in many countries is still unstable and thousands of new cases are reported every day. At the same time, there are now several countries that claim to be completely free of COVID-19. Here are those countries.
1. Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan, located in Central Asia, has not reported a single coronavirus case since the beginning of the pandemic. The country took some serious measures to prevent the disease, including public events and travels, but there are still doubts over the validity of Turkmenistan’s claims since it’s a famously sheltered country that may not be willing to report the true state of things.
2. Samoa
Samoa, which consists of four inhabited islands and several uninhabited ones, is part of Polynesia. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the government has restricted all travel to the country with an exception of extraordinary situations, and that is one of the main reasons why Samoa has not reported any new coronavirus cases in a long time.
3. Federated States Of Micronesia
The Federated States of Micronesia is a country that consists of over 600 islands and occupies a substantial amount of the ocean, hasn’t reported a single case of COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic. This is likely due to the location of the country and the difficulty getting there, although the Federated States of Micronesia have received help from other countries as well.
4. North Korea
Like Turkmenistan, North Korea is a country that is known for its isolated status and its unwillingness to share the true state of things in the country. North Korea has not reported a single case of the coronavirus since the disease began spreading around the world, but although the country imposed measures such as lockdown and closed borders, North Korea’s no-coronavirus claims regularly spark debates.
5. Tokelau
Tokelau is a dependent territory of New Zealand that is located on three coral atolls. Although New Zealand itself is very close to combating COVID-19 altogether, Tokelau has not reported a single coronavirus case for the duration of the pandemic. This likely happened due to Tokelau’s relatively small population of 1,500 people and the fact that you can only get there by ship.
6. Cook Islands
The nation of Cook Islands consists of 15 islands located close to New Zealand and has political affiliations with New Zealand as well. The Cook Islands has not had any coronavirus cases since the beginning of the global pandemic, likely thanks to the mandatory quarantine for everyone arriving in the country and the fact that cruise ships were not allowed in its ports.
7. Palau
Located on more than 300 islands not far from the Philippines, Palau is an independent territory with close ties to the US. There have been no coronavirus cases reported in Palau over the course of almost a year. The country banned all commercial air travel and imposed strict quarantine rules on everyone arriving in Palau.