East Asia fares significantly better in terms of the impact of COVID-19 than the West. Although the virus is believed to have originated in East Asia, as of May 22, 2020 no East Asian nation was among the first ten countries in number of total cases of COVID-19. No matter what type of rule - democratic or autocratic - the numbers of total cases and deaths per 1 million of population in East Asian countries are significantly lower than in the West despite huge population density.