While failing to wear a mask in close quarters outdoors can result in arrest in many urban international centers across the world, donning a mask while waiting at a bus stop in Turkmenistan could result in jail time.
Among the last three nations to report no COVID-19 cases, the Turkmen government maintains the virus has no presence in the country. Ruled by dictator Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow since 2007, the government has gone as far as removing mention of the virus from public health brochures and pamphlets distributed in hospitals and school–just saying the word ‘coronavirus’ in public can result in arrest by plain-clothes police.