According to data collected by John Hopkins University, 18 of the 193 member states of the United Nations have declared themselves coronavirus-free: Comoros, Kiribati, Lesotho, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, North Korea, Palau, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Solomon Islands, South Sudan, Tajikistan, Tonga, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Yemen.
For the most part, these countries are small, remote islands that typically don’t see many tourists and where social isolation is a way of life for their residents. According to data published in September 2018 by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), seven of the world’s 10 least visited destinations are on the list. Their natural social isolation may have helped them avoid the rapid spread of the pandemic, but such isolation is a major concern for some governments. In some countries, drastic measures were enacted even before any cases were confirmed.
Nauru, the second smallest country in the United Nations, is located northeast of Australia. A direct flight from Brisbane, Australia, the nearest major city to Nauru, is 2,100 miles south.
Nauru’s President Lionel Aingimea fears COVID-19 is a national emergency, he told the BBC. With just one hospital, no ventilators and a shortage of nurses, President Aingimea will not let the disease get to him. Nauru’s “capture and contain” order has banned visitors from China, South Korea, Italy and Iran since early March. Flights have been reduced or suspended. Arrivals from Australia (mostly returning residents) are quarantined in hotels for 14 days and are checked for symptoms daily.
Several other small Pacific nations - such as Kiribati, Tonga and Vanuatu - have also enacted similar measures, according to the BBC.
Meanwhile, Turkmenistan, a country on the coronavirus “white list,” has resorted to another improvised measure: banning the media from using the word “coronavirus.”
Reporters Without Borders said the word “coronavirus” has also been removed from health information materials distributed in schools, hospitals and offices in Turkmenistan. The Central Asian country, which borders Iran, has so far reported no cases of coronavirus, while Iran has recorded more than 44,000 cases.
People wearing masks or talking about the coronavirus are likely to be arrested by plainclothes police, says Paris-based Reporters Without Borders. Turkmenistan, ranked last in the 2019 World Press Freedom Index, is one of the most closed countries in the world.
