PharmEasy Blog

Countries That Became Covid-19 Free & How They Did It!

While the COVID-19 pandemic continues unabated, some countries are doing better than others. Caseload, meaning the number of people affected, as well as the fatality rates, are higher in some countries than others.

So which countries have been able to banish COVID-19? And how did they accomplish the impossible? Read on to find out.

List of countries that are COVID-19 free

1. Vatican City

On 6th June, this tiny country announced that it has been able to eradicate coronavirus and no one in its population is infected. There has been no fatality.

2. Fiji

By the first week of June, all the 18 people of the country who had contracted COVID-19 were declared healthy and COVID-free. The announcement came after 45 days of zero COVID-19 reports and since no one died of the disease in this country, Fiji has a 100% recovery rate.

3. Montenegro

It took Montenegro 69 days after its first case of COVID-19 to declare itself free from the dreaded virus. On 24th May, Montenegro became the first country in Europe to vanquish COVID-19.

4. St Kitts and Nevis

This quaint West Indian country also reported only a few cases, just 15 to be specific, and all were cured by the latter half of May.

01 (1)

5. Seychelles

This archipelago of 115 islands on the Indian Ocean is famous as a tourist destination. Yet, it was able to withstand the devastation caused by COVID-19. There were only 11 cases of the virus and no one died from it.

6. Papua New Guinea

One of the earliest countries to free itself from the clutches of COVID-19, Papua New Guinea declared its status as a corona-free country on May 4th. This country too has a zero fatality rate.

So what did these countries do right?

It’s not just the countries we mentioned, nations that were gravely affected by the COVID-19 earlier like Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, New Zealand, Thailand and Switzerland are now showing a rapidly declining curve.

How have these countries been able to contain the pandemic?

  1. These countries stopped local transmission. This is the most dangerous phase of the disease spread when people pass the virus from one to another through respiratory particles.
  2. The moment these countries realized that an epidemic was raging in China, they began to plan out strategies. As soon as reports began to emerge that the disease is reaching other countries, they closed their borders and stopped anyone from travelling into or away from their countries.

02 (1)

  1. They did not wait to impose self-isolation while at the same time gave their citizens enough time to plan for the upcoming lockdown.
  2. These countries also made the most of the period of lockdown. Self-isolation was implemented in almost every country. But it did not always help. But these countries made the most of it. They engaged in vigorous testing and contact tracing.
  3. These countries are not burdened with the lack of community infrastructure and rank high in the preparedness to handle a health crisis as opposed to larger and more organizationally unstructured countries such as Brazil and many more.
  4. Because of thorough testing and tracing, these countries did not have to lift their lockdown until the risk of community transmission had been eliminated. For other countries, the economic stress was too high to continue with the lockdown and hence the virus is back in the form of a second wave and the curve keeps climbing.

The situation in India

The Union Government has said that we are on our way to flattening the curve. According to WHO, India will reach its peak in July after which the cases will decline. Two vaccines are being tested right now and once the human trials have concluded, we might have protection from this dreaded disease.

Only if we stand together can we make our country free from the COVID-19 pandemic. Let us all cooperate with each other and observe safety measures to stay safe and healthy!

Stay home and stay safe by getting yourself tested from time to time.

Disclaimer: The information provided here is for educational/awareness purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for medical treatment by a healthcare professional and should not be relied upon to diagnose or treat any medical condition. The reader should consult a registered medical practitioner to determine the appropriateness of the information and before consuming any medication. PharmEasy does not provide any guarantee or warranty (express or implied) regarding the accuracy, adequacy, completeness, legality, reliability or usefulness of the information; and disclaims any liability arising thereof.

Links and product recommendations in the information provided here are advertisements of third-party products available on the website. PharmEasy does not make any representation on the accuracy or suitability of such products/services. Advertisements do not influence the editorial decisions or content. The information in this blog is subject to change without notice. The authors and administrators reserve the right to modify, add, or remove content without notification. It is your responsibility to review this disclaimer regularly for any changes.