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.

More health and security information 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, and the CDC, ECDC, and WHO sites. Not all advise in these sites will apply to US travelers.

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

• Germany. Thousands turned out in Berlin on Sunday to protest the German government’s anti-coronavirus measures despite a ban on the gatherings, leading to clashes with police and about 600 arrests (Guardian).

Natural Disasters

• Afghanistan. After severe flash floods in Kamdesh District (eastern Nuristan Province, north-eastern Afghanistan) on 28 July, the number of fatalities has increased (ERCC).
• India. Torrential rainfall in Kishtwar District (Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory, northern India) on 28 July caused flooding, resulting in casualties and damage (ERCC).
• Peru. An earthquake of 6.2 M occurred on 30 July at 17.10 UTC (12.10 local time) in Piura Region (northern Peru), close to the border with Ecuador, resulting in displacement and damage (ERCC).
• Italy. Several forest fires broke out in central and south-eastern Italy, resulting in injuries and displacement (ERCC).
• Turkey. Wildfires have been raging along Turkey’s Aegean and Mediterranean coast over the last week. 8 fatalities have been reported and thousands of residents and tourists have been evacuated from the affected areas (ERCC).
• Greece. A wildfire broke out on 31 July across Aigialeia Municipality (Western Greece Region, northern Peloponnese) close to Patras, resulting in casualties and damage (ERCC).

Health

• Chikungunya virus disease. In 2021, 85,304 cases have been reported, the majority from Brazil, India, Belize, Malaysia, and Peru. Since a previous CDTR published on 2 July 2021, 20,712 new cases have been reported, the majority of which are from Brazil (ECDC).
• Dengue. In 2021, 953,476 cases have been reported, the majority from Brazil, Vietnam, Peru, The Philippines, and Réunion (France). Since a previous CDTR published on 2 July 2021, 141,616 new cases have been reported, the majority of which are from Brazil, Philippines, Vietnam, Peru and Mexico (ECDC).
• Ethiopia. More than 100,000 children in Tigray, Ethiopia, could suffer from life-threatening severe acute malnutrition in the next 12 months, a tenfold jump over average annual levels, UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Friday. The development comes as UNICEF announced that it had recently reached areas of Tigray that were previously inaccessible owing to insecurity linked to the nearly nine months of recent conflict (UN News).
• Nepal. A battered economy and lockdowns triggered by the pandemic are disrupting essential health services and much-needed food supplies in Nepal (G&M).

COVID-19

International preventative measures against COVID-19, including entry restrictions and in-country mobility remain fluid, and can be imposed without prior notice.  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:

• Philippines will extend a night curfew in the capital, Manila, amid a tightening of curbs in the south-east Asian country to combat a potential surge in cases of the Delta variant (Guardian).
• Australia‘s state of Queensland has extended its lockdown until Sunday and soldiers have been deployed on the streets of Sydney to enforce stay-at-home rules (Guardian).
• China. Millions of people were confined to their homes in China today as the country tried to contain its largest coronavirus outbreak in months including seven positive tests found in Wuhan, where the virus first emerged in late 2019, reports Agence France-Presse (Guardian).
• Kenya is extending a nighttime curfew and banning public gatherings and in-person meetings to slow the spread of the coronavirus, warning that hospitals are becoming overwhelmed (Al Jazeera)

Global cases and deaths. As of 02 August, Johns Hopkins University counts 198,707,823 COVID-19 cases and 4,229,662 deaths, and the WHO COVID-19 dashboard reports 198,234,951 cases and 4,227,359 deaths.

As notable cases:

• Iran has reported more than 37,000 cases of coronavirus in 24 hours for the first time, as the country also recorded its highest daily number of deaths from Covid for three months (Guardian).
• Brazil had 20,503 new cases of coronavirus reported in the past 24 hours and 464 deaths (Guardian).
• Mexico’s health ministry has reported 6,740 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 and 128 more fatalities (Guardian).
• The CDC say the Delta variant (B1617.2) is as contagious as chickenpox. The agency also said that, although vaccinated people rarely get serious breakthrough infections, when they do get infected they can transmit the virus as easily as unvaccinated people (CIDRAP).
• West Africa. A resurgence of coronavirus cases in West Africa is hitting the region hard, inundating cemeteries where funeral numbers are rising and hospitals where beds are becoming scarce (AP)

Vaccination campaigns around the world continue. As of 01 August, Our World in Data reports 28.5% of the world population has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and 14.7% is fully vaccinated. 4.18 billion doses have been administered globally, and 39.7 million are now administered each day. Only 1.1% of people in low-income countries have received at least one dose. The WHO COVID-19 dashboard reports over 3.83 billion administered vaccine doses.

As notable cases:

• Germany. As concerns grow over a rise in coronavirus cases driven by the highly contagious Delta variant, Germany will offer vaccine booster shots to older people and people with underlying health conditions starting in September, according to a draft plan that is expected to be announced on Monday (NYT).
• Covax, the vast global vaccination program, struggles to get shots into arms (NYT).
• Poland is stepping up security at vaccination points following two arson incidents overnight in a single town and an attempt by anti-vaccine activists to break into another (Guardian).
• World. Vaccine shortages in developing countries are pushing refugees to the back of the queue (Guardian).
• Hong Kong civil servants, teachers and healthcare workers must get vaccinated against coronavirus or pay for regular testing, the city’s leader has announced, as her administration adopted a push into mandatory inoculations (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.