World Status Report

This report intends to give the UTD Community a snapshot of international risks, and other issues as reported by the linked official sources from the U.S. and other countries.

Please note the publication date of this report, and go to the direct sources linked for the most up-to-date information.  The information in this report may change without prior notice.

Security

A weekend of violent clashes between Palestinians, Israeli settlers and Israeli Security Forces left hundreds wounded in East Jerusalem (ERCC). The UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process added his voice to calls for calm in the Occupied Palestinian Territory late on Tuesday, warning that the situation is “escalating towards a full-scale war”, amid continuing air strikes and rocket attacks (UN News). Since the escalation of hostilities in Yemen‘s Marib governorate in February 2021, approximately 20,000 already internally displaced individuals have been displaced (ERCC).

Natural Disasters

Severe weather is impacting several countries, resulting in casualties, displacement, and damage.  Landslides in Indonesia.  Thunderstorms and lightning in India.  Heavy rain, strong winds, and thunderstorms in China. Heavy rain, landslides, and floods in Colombia (ERCC).

COVID-19

International preventative measures against COVID-19, including entry restrictions and in-country mobility remain very fluid, and can be imposed without prior notice. Details for each country can be found in the travel advisories issued by the governments of the United States, Canada, the UK, New Zealand, and Australia.  The UNWTO and IATA Destination Tracker offers relevant information on a destination status. The Timeline of EU Member States Reopening Their Borders  offers a list of opened EU countries for travelers, and dates of warned opening.

As notable cases: India‘s main health agency has said districts reporting a high number of infections should remain locked down for another six to eight weeks to control the spread of the virus (The Guardian). Taiwan is currently on level two alert (on a one-to-four system) after two clusters of locally transmitted cases emerged, with no apparent link between the first and second (The Guardian). Commercial flights are not departing Nepal and the government has extended the flight suspension through May 31 (CNN).

Globally, as of 12 May, Johns Hopkins University counts 159,732,343 COVID-19 cases and 3,319,169 deaths, and the WHO COVID-19 dashboard reports 158,651,638 cases and 3,299,764 deaths. 

As notable cases: Coronavirus cases are exploding in Asia and the Pacific with over 5.9 million new confirmed infections in the past two weeks, the International Federation of the Red Cross has said, warning that the surge is pushing hospitals and health systems to the brink of collapse (The Guardian). Thailand is working to contain an outbreak ripping through the tight-knit community of gemstone traders in the southeastern reaches of the country near the border with Cambodia (NYT). The Covid-19 variant, B.1.617, first identified in India in October has been now found in 44 nations. The United Kingdom is the country outside of India that has reported the largest number of cases of the variant (WHO). New weekly cases decreased in the regions of Europe and Eastern Mediterranean, while the South-East Asia Region continued an upward trajectory for 9 weeks and reported a further 6% increase last week. The highest numbers of new cases were reported from India, Brazil, the United States, Turkey, and Argentina (WHO). Costa Rica‘s hospitals are running out of space for COVID-19 patients, the president of the national doctors’ union warned yesterday (Reuters). Authorities in Melbourne, Australia, are tracing the contacts of a man who tested positive for COVID-19, saying the next few days would be critical to preventing an outbreak (Reuters).

Vaccination campaigns around the world continue.  As of 11 May, Our World in Data reports 1.34 billion administered vaccine doses globally. The WHO COVID-19 dashboard reports as of 10 May over 1.2 billion administered vaccine doses.

As notable cases: President Nicolas Maduro has said the single-dose Russian Sputnik Light vaccine will soon arrive in Venezuela (The Guardian). Brazil is buying an additional 100 million doses of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine, that will be delivered between September and December (The Guardian). Argentina is set to receive 4 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine in May (Reuters).

Risk Levels

CDC COVID-19 Levels, last update on May 10

# Countries	Risk Level
139	Level 4: COVID-19 Very High (avoid all travel)
24	Level 3: COVID-19 High (avoid all non-essential travel)
35	Level Unknown: COVID-19 Unknown (avoid all non-essential travel)
17	Level 2: COVID-19 Moderate (travelers at increased risk for severe illness, avoid all non-essential travel)
30	Level 1: COVID-19 Low (take steps to mitigate risks before, during, and after travel)

U.S. Department of State Levels, last update on May 12

# Countries	Risk Level
156	Level 4: Do Not Travel
39	Level 3: Reconsider Travel
16	Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution
0	Level 1: Exercise Normal Precautions

Please note the publication date of this report and go to the direct sources linked for the most up-to-date information.  The information in this report may change without prior notice.