Expats Attempting To Avoid Covid-19 Are Almost Out Of Luck

Where to go to escape the coronavirus or even a mention of it?

With over one million now recorded as having contracted the deadly-for-some infection, where are the refuges it hasn’t reached and perhaps never will? Believe it or not, 18 world countries have so far escaped contamination with the covid-19 virus, but how many of these have expats as well as citizens of those now infected ever heard of?

North Korea, Samoa, Tajikistan, Micronesia, Tonga, Lesotho, Turkmenistan, the Solomon Islands and South Sudan may well be names which drip from the lips of seasoned expat explorers, but what about Sao Tome, Principe, Palau, Nauru, the Marshall Islands and even Comoros or Kiribati? Perhaps the fact that no-one except their citizens have ever heard of them is the reason they’ve so far escaped contamination.

Yemen is well known as a developing country now recovering from a disastrous civil war and surrounded by the big league Arab states including Saudi Arabia. Oil and gold are found there but, for expats thinking of including the state in their list of non-virus destinations, it’s the most at risk as it’s two million cases of cholera, collapsing healthcare system, prevalence of malnourishment and total humanitarian crisis make living there the worst decision ever made.

As regards South Sudan as an escape from covid-19, it’s now too late as the Arab state has just reported it’s first case of the deadly infection. The unfortunate female patient is believed to have arrived from Ethiopia and is now on UN premises in isolation. Health workers are doing their best to trace all her contacts and she’s said to be recovering. An immediate curfew is now in place and everything from borders through airports, schools and mosques is now shut down.