To state that novel coronavirus has ravaged the global community and changed the course of human history is no exaggeration. The viral disease that originated in Wuhan, China in late December last year soon took over the world and the infection became a pandemic.

According to the Johns Hopkins University's statistics, the new strain of the coronavirus family - which causes the illness known as COVID-19 - has already spread in at least 188 countries and territories around the world.

The viral infection prompted several countries to impose strict countrywide lockdowns for several months. First China and then European countries like Italy and Spain were the first ones to be adversely affected by the virus which causes severe respiratory illness.

To date, over 27 million COVID-19 cases have been confirmed globally and more than 880,000 people have died due to the viral disease. But there are still a few countries and territories that have not reported a single case of coronavirus infection.

Territories with zero COVID-19 cases are as follows:

• North Korea

• Turkmenistan

• Marshall Islands

• Micronesia

• Cook Islands

• Nauru

• Palau

• Samoa

• Niue

• Solomon Islands

• Kiribati

• Tonga

• Tuvalu

• Vanuatu

Most of these are island nations that are completely isolated from the rest of the world so it makes sense that they are COVID-free. But for non-island countries like North Korea and Turkmenistan that are ruled by autocrats, it doesn't make sense.

Global health bodies are skeptical about their claims that they have not yet reported any corona case. It's believed that they have concealed their viral cases so as to not impose lockdowns to keep their fragile economies afloat. Unfortunately, due to the absence of free media in either of these countries, it is hard to trust the governments' claims.