Which countries have not reported any coronavirus cases?

Published

9 months ago

2020-05-28

In December 2019, the coronavirus was seemingly confined to China. But, a few weeks later, the virus, which causes the illness known as COVID-19, became a global pandemic.

The virus, which leads to a respiratory illness that can be transmitted from droplets of bodily fluids – such as mucus and saliva, has now been reported in at least 188 countries.

Scientists, health officials and governments across the world have encouraged citizens to practise physical distancing and to avoid going out unless for necessary purposes.

According to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, more than five million people have been infected, and the global death toll is more than 356,000. Nearly 2.3 million patients have recovered.

Here are a few countries that have not reported any cases of the coronavirus so far:

Kiribati

Marshall Islands

Micronesia

Nauru

North Korea

Palau

Samoa

Solomon Islands

Tonga

Turkmenistan

Tuvalu

Vanuatu

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Voters go to the polls in El Salvador | Elections News

Published

10 hours ago

2021-02-28

GN Bulletin

Opinion polls ahead of Sunday’s vote show strong support for President Nayib Bukele’s Nuevas Ideas party.

Voters are casting their ballots in El Salvador on Sunday, as President Nayib Bukele’s Nuevas Ideas party is expected to make major gains in the legislative and local elections.

Long queues of voters wearing face masks due to the COVID-19 pandemic stretched outside of voting centres ahead of polls opening at 7am local time (13:00 GMT).

Salvadorans are choosing 84 legislators to represent them in the national assembly for the next three years, as well as 262 municipal councils.

Opinion polls released ahead of the vote showed Bukele’s party with around 70 percent support – and a strong chance of securing more than half of the mayoral positions and enough seats to hold at least a simple majority in Congress.

Bukele, who took office in 2019, came to power on a promise to root out corruption and offer an alternative to El Salvador’s main political parties, left-wing FMLN and right-wing ARENA.

ARENA currently holds 37 of the 84 seats in Congress and controls 138 of the 262 municipal councils, while FMLN holds 23 congressional seats and 64 municipal councils.

Tens of thousands of police, soldiers and international observers have been deployed to oversee the vote.

“We hope to have a peaceful election day, a truly civic celebration crowned by massive participation of the electorate,” Dora Martinez, president of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) told national TV.

Earlier this month, the TSE called for international observers to be sent early after two FMLN activists were killed and five others were injured in a shooting in the capital, San Salvador.

Observers said it was one of the worst political attacks in decades.

Tensions have been rising ahead of the legislative polls, as civil society groups raised concerns that a strong showing for Bukele’s party could see him consolidate power.

Human rights advocates have said the president has shown authoritarian tendencies – an accusation that he and his supporters have rebuffed.

With a majority in Congress, Bukele would be able to appoint judges to the Supreme Court and the public prosecutor’s office.

A two-thirds majority would let the Nuevas Ideas party appoint high-level government officials, such as the attorney general and five of the country’s 15 Supreme Court justices.

“I’m going to vote for [Nayib’s party] because he has helped us a lot,” Wendy Henriquez, a 46-year-old street vendor, told Al Jazeera ahead of the vote.

Officials expect preliminary results will be released a few hours after polls close at 5pm (23:00 GMT) on Sunday.

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