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

Rampant impunity for human rights violations in Mali is posing serious risks for the protection of civilians in the West African country, UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet said on Tuesday (UN News). Government forces in the southern African kingdom of Eswatini fired gunshots and teargas on Tuesday to break up protests calling for reforms to its system of absolute monarchy, witnesses said. A dusk-till-dawn curfew was also imposed (Guardian). An American journalist who was detained for three months in Myanmar says he was tortured and feared he would die in an interrogation cell (WaPo). The European Union’s executive is considering legal action against Poland over “LGBT-free” zones set up by some local authorities there, two officials told Reuters (Yahoo).

Natural Disasters

Heavy rain with thunderstorms and strong winds have affected eastern Sudan over the past weeks, causing floods and leading to casualties and damage. Tornado events hit several villages of Deli Serdang Regency (North Sumatra Province, western Indonesia) on 28 June, resulting in casualties and damage (ERCC). An “exceptional and dangerous” heatwave in the northwestern United States and western Canada is expected to lead to temperatures as high as 113°F for five or so more days, a spokesperson for the World Meteorological Organization said (UN News).

Health

The head of the UN’s World Food Programme has warned there could be “unprecedented famine of biblical proportions” in dozens of countries without further action to address food shortages (Guardian).

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: The town of Alice Springs, in the middle of Australia‘s vast outback wilderness and gateway to UNESCO World Heritage-listed Uluru, on Wednesday joined four major cities by locking down, to prevent a potential outbreak of the Delta coronavirus variant (Reuters). Australia‘s home affairs minister has rejected calls to reduce caps on international arrivals amid outbreaks of the Delta variant, saying “we need to learn to live” with Covid (Guardian). France has today ended most capacity limits imposed in April on restaurants, cinemas, stores and other public venues, although the measures were extended in parts of the southwest over the spread of the coronavirus Delta variant (Guardian). Bangladesh will deploy soldiers tomorrow to enforce a strict lockdown amid a record spike in coronavirus cases driven by the Delta variant first detected in India, the government has said (Guardian). South Korea’s capital, Seoul, and its neighbouring regions will delay by a week the relaxation of social distancing rules due to a sudden increase in Covid cases, authorities said (Guardian). Japan is considering an extension of its coronavirus prevention measures in Tokyo and other areas by two weeks to a month (Guardian). Residents of 11 more third-countries will benefit from restriction-free entry to the European Union and Schengen Area Member States after the Council of the EU agreed to add these countries to the EU’s list of epidemiologically safe third countries by the end of this week (Schengenvisainfo)

Global cases and deaths. As of 30 June, Johns Hopkins University counts 181,920,675 COVID-19 cases and 3,940,122 deaths, and the WHO COVID-19 dashboard reports 181,344,224 cases and 3,934,252 deaths.

As notable cases: 200 Spanish students being held under police guard at the Palma Bellver hotel in Majorca, in Spain‘s Balearic Islands, after an outbreak of more than 1,000 cases of Covid-19 were linked to end-of-year trips by celebrating school students (BBC). North Korea Covid-19 outbreak fears after Kim Jong-un warns of ‘huge crisis’ in ‘antivirus fight’ (Guardian). Cambodia has reported record daily rises in coronavirus deaths and cases, reaching what its government called the “red line” in its biggest outbreak so far (Guardian). Although still quite low, the number of Indonesian children contracting the coronavirus has almost tripled since May, with infant deaths from Covid rising sharply as the country suffers its most severe wave of infections so far, a senior paediatrician has said (Guardian). Russia reported 669 coronavirus-related deaths nationwide on Wednesday, the most confirmed in a single day since the pandemic began, amid a surge in cases that authorities blame on the Delta variant (Guardian). AP reports that the delta variant has now been detected in at least 14 African countries including Congo, Mozambique, Namibia, Uganda, South Africa and Zimbabwe, and not just in the cities (Guardian). After weeks of substantial decreases, COVID-19 cases are beginning to rise again in the United States, likely due to infections caused by the highly transmissible Delta variant (B1617.2). The increase is seen most prominently in Southern and Western states, and communities with low vaccination rates (CIDRAP). The Red Cross in Indonesia warns that the country is on the edge of a COVID-19 catastrophe, with a surge of Delta variant-fueled infections overwhelming hospitals in Jakarta and other parts of the country (CIDRAP).

Vaccination campaigns around the world continue. As of 29 June, Our World in Data reports 3.04 billion administered vaccine doses globally. The WHO COVID-19 dashboard reports as of 28 June over 2.66 billion administered vaccine doses.

As notable cases: Switzerland donates 4m AstraZeneca doses to Covax, with shot unapproved by regulator (Guardian). Thailand is to import nearly 4m doses of Moderna’s mRNA coronavirus vaccine towards the end of this year and a further million in early 2022, for use by private hospitals (Guardian). Malaysia to receive 2m vaccines from Japan and US this week (Guardian).

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.