World is fighting one of the biggest crisis in decades in the form of coronavirus. The pandemic has so far affected more than 7,84,000 people and claimed over 37,000 lives.? ?
Over 170 countries around the globe have recorded cases of the pandemic within their territories. But there are still a few remote corners where the virus has not infected any person.
One such place is the Palau island, nestled in the northern Pacific. It has a population of 18,000, but has still not reported a single Covid-19 positive case. A dot within the ocean tons of of kilometres from its nearest neighbours, Palau is surrounded by the huge Pacific, which has acted as a buffer in opposition to the virus.
In an effort to keep to the virus at bay, the authorities have put a range of policies into place from Palau to Tahiti, including travel restrictions, school closings, lockdowns and states of emergency.
The disparate group also includes Samoa, Turkmenistan, North Korea and bases on the frozen continent of Antarctica.??
North Korea being a peculiar case, there is no concrete evidence to suggest the East Asian country has had no cases so far, but the government has maintained there are no COVID-19 positive people in the country.?
Another?secretive, tightly-controlled state?in Asia has yet to report any instances of COVID-19 despite bordering a hard-hit nation. Turkmenistan has sent medical and food supplies to neighboring Iran, where cases exceeded 32,000, but has not recorded any infections at home.??
Samoa, an independent state in Oceania, has also so far reported zero cases of coronavirus.?
Elsewhere in Africa, the countries of Botswana and land-locked Lesotho have also not registered a single COVID-19 case despite all bordering South Africa, which has emerged as the most heavily-impacted on the continent with nearly 1,000 confirmed instances.