The 8 countries that eradicate the Covid – 19 virus

New Zealand joins an exclusive club of nations that have successfully stamped out Covid-19. Prime Minister Jacinda Arden announcing that all social distancing restrictions were being lifted, except for border closures.

There are no active cases of the coronavirus left in New Zealand and no new cases in more than a fortnight.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says new cases may still emerge, so contact tracing will continue to be important.

"We are confident we have eliminated transmission of the virus in New Zealand for now, but elimination is not a point in time, it is a sustained effort," Ms Ardern said.

According to Johns Hopkins University, there are at least eight other countries that have already eradicate the virus, most of them small island nations with tiny populations and vastly smaller tallies than New Zealand's 1504 confirmed or probable cases.

It's important to point out that Johns Hopkins University counting only countries that  reported cases and got down to zero active cases. So countries that have not reported a coronavirus case, such as Samoa and Tonga, don't count.

Johns Hopkins University's COVID Tracking Project has a list of 188 countries and regions with reported cases — that list also includes the Diamond Princess cruise ship.

Montenegro, a coastal European nation, nestled among Albania, Serbia and Croatia, declared itself COVID-free back on May 25 just 69 days after its first case reported.

Eritrea

Eritrea, which shares borders with Sudan and Ethiopia in northeast Africa, reported 39 cases of the virus with a population 5.2 million.

The outbreak there kicked off in March, when a traveller arrived from Norway. It got down to Zero active cases on May 15. 

Timor-Leste

Timor-Leste recorded Zero active cases on May 15. Its first case was reported on March 21 and its last case was recorded on April 24. The small nation, one of Australia's closest neighbours, recorded 24 cases in total. To put that into perspective, Timor-Leste has a population of 1.3 million and is surrounded by Indonesian islands; with Indonesia recording more than 32,000 cases.

Fiji

Fiji's Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama declared the country free of the virus on Friday.

"And even with our testing numbers climbing by the day, it's now been 45 days since we recorded our last case," he tweeted.

"With no deaths, our recovery rate is 100 per cent. Answered prayers, hard work, and affirmation of science."

Fiji recorded 18 cases, with a population of 899,000.

Saint Kitts and Nevis  

There were 15 cases reported in Saint Kitts and Nevis, a dual-island nation in the Caribbean with a population of 55,000.

All cases were travel-related, its Government said.

Zero deaths were recorded from the virus, with the Governmnet announcing that all patients had recovered on May 18.

Holy See

The territory in Rome, Italy reported a total of 12 cases of coronavirus and zero deaths from its population of about 800.

The Vatican City News Reported there were no cases of the virus in  the city on Saturday, saying the last person who was reported sick tested negative for the virus.

Seychelles

The island nation, located in the Indian Ocean off the coast of East Africa, recorded 11 cases, with Seychelles Public Health Commissioner declaring all patients had recovered  on May 18. There were no deaths.

Comprised of 115 islands, Seychelles has a population of 94,000.

Despite being clear of the virus, locals are still being reminded to keep up with hygiene and social distancing guidelines. Airports were open to passengers from low-risk countries on June 1, provided they prove their negative COVID-19 status upon entry.

Papua New Guinea

Just eight cases were reported in PNG, which has a population of about 8 million.

The small outbreak there started on March 20, with the Government confirming that all patients had recovered on May 3.

PNG's cases were only relatively mild, with just two people hospitalised and no one dying from the virus.