Coronavirus is spreading rapidly across the world at an alarming rate. While the total number of cases in the UK seems to soar almost daily, there are some countries on the planet which have so far escaped the pandemic. German database company Statista has identified the destinations which have not yet been impacted.
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So which are the countries which currently do not have any coronavirus cases?
Statista explains that several countries in Africa that are saying that they do not have the virus.
Although it’s worth noting, the company points out, that “this could be due to a lack of testing capacity on the ground.”
As of Monday March 30, Botswana, Burundi, Comoros, Malawi, Sao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone and South Sudan were the African countries still to report a confirmed case.
Particularly interesting is North Korea’s report that the country has so far escaped coronavirus.
There are question marks over the veracity of this claim, however.
Statistic explained: “Sources in South Korea [have claimed] COVID-19 has indeed spread there via the Chinese border.
“Due to the secretive nature of the government in Pyongyang and the degree of state control over the media, it is impossible to tell whether the South Korean claims are true.
“However, it is also not unreasonable to think that in this instance, North Korea’s isolation from the rest of the world is helping it largely avoid the pandemic.”
Other countries reporting no cases of coronavirus include Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Yemen.
Statista also points out that the virus “also remains mostly undetected in the smaller Pacific island nations such as the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.”
If the virus did reach these islands, the consequences could be disastrous.
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Jonathan Pryke, director of the Pacific Islands Program at the Lowy Institute, an Australia-based think tank, explained why.
He told NPR: “Because the health systems are so fragile, so stretched, they just would not be able to cope with a major outbreak.”
So far, coronavirus has been confirmed in Papua New Guinea and Fiji as well as in the French territories of French Polynesia and New Caledonia.
The U.S. territory of Guam has had one death from the virus and 51 confirmed cases of infection.
So where are the countries without coronavirus right now?
Countries which have escaped Coronavirus
Sao Tome & Principe
Sierra Leone
Botswana
Burundi
South Sudan
Malawi
Lethoso
Yemen
Turkmenistan
Tajikistan
North Korea
Comoros
Smaller Pacific Islands
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