World Status Report

This report intends to give the UTD Community a snapshot of international risks, and other issues as reported by the linked media 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

• Gaza. Around 40 Palestinians and an Israeli soldier were wounded following clashes between Palestinians and the Israeli Defence Forces. Palestinians were protesting at the slow pace of reconstruction in Gaza (ERCC).
• Yemen. No progress has been made by parties in Yemen to reach a political agreement to settle the civil war, which is now in its seventh year, a senior UN official for the Middle East region told the Security Council on Monday (UN News).
• Burkina Faso. According to media reports, the civilian convoy was being escorted by military police, when it was attacked by Islamist militants. As well as the scores of people killed, several others were wounded (UN News).
• World. UN counter-terrorism chief Vladimir Voronkov presented the Secretary-General’s latest report on the threats posed by terrorist groups, saying that Da’esh continues to exploit the disruption, grievances and development setbacks caused by the pandemic to regroup, recruit new followers and intensify its activities – both online and on the ground (UN News).
• Afghanistan. Western troops at Kabul airport worked frantically on Tuesday to evacuate people from Afghanistan before an Aug. 31 deadline as U.S. President Joe Biden faced growing pressure to negotiate more time for the airlift of thousands trying to flee (Reuters). The U.N. human rights chief said on Tuesday that she had received credible reports of serious violations committed by the Taliban in Afghanistan, including “summary executions” of civilians and Afghan security forces who have surrendered (Reuters). There is an increasing risk of suicide attacks by Islamic State (IS) fighters entering Kabul, a German general said on Tuesday (Reuters). The World Health Organization only has enough supplies in Afghanistan to last for a week after deliveries of medical equipment from abroad were blocked by restrictions at Kabul airport, a senior regional WHO official said on Tuesday (Reuters).
• Hong Kong said on Tuesday new film censorship legislation will be introduced to “safeguard national security”, in another sign of shrinking freedoms in the former British colony (Reuters).
• Poland will build a fence along its border with Belarus and double the number of troops there, the defence minister said on Monday, to halt a flow of migrants (Reuters).
• Lithuania said on Monday it would complete a 508-km (315-mile) fence along its border with Belarus by September next year to stop migrants it says are crossing in record numbers (Reuters).
• Germany. Seven people have fallen ill after consuming a variety of food and drink from kitchens at Darmstadt Technical University in Germany, in what police suspect may have been an attempted poisoning (Guardian).

Natural Disasters

• Sudan. Heavy rain has been affecting several parts of Sudan over the past few days, causing floods and resulting in casualties and damage (ERCC).
• Vietnam. On early 24 August, a landslide event triggered by recent heavy rainfall was reported in Na Hang District (Tuyen Quang Province, Northeast region of Vietnam), resulting in casualties (ERCC).
• United States. On 21-22 August, floods caused by heavy rain were reported across central Tennessee State (central-eastern USA), resulting in casualties (ERCC).
• Germany-Belgium. Climate change has made extreme rainfall events of the kind that sent lethal torrents of water hurtling through parts of Germany and Belgium last month at least 20% more likely to happen in the region, scientists said Tuesday (Reuters).
• Tibet. Rapid climate change in China’s Qinghai-Tibet plateau could destabilise water supplies and cause more frequent disasters, even though warmer temperatures have improved conditions in the short term, scientists have said after an expedition to the region (Al Jazeera).

Health

• India. According to media reports quoting the Minister of Health, and as of 2 August, 37 additional Zika cases have been reported in the Indian state of Kerala (ECDC).

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:

• Japan. The 2020 Paralympic Games will kick off in Tokyo with the opening ceremony on Tuesday as Japan struggles with its worst COVID-19 outbreak so far, record daily cases and an overwhelmed medical system (Reuters).
• Australia can proceed with its reopening plans when the country reaches 70%-80% vaccination levels, the government’s pandemic modelling adviser said, even as some states hinted they may not ease border curbs if Sydney fails to control its Delta outbreak (Reuters).
• Greece said it would end free testing for unvaccinated people to boost inoculation rates and head off any renewed spike in Delta variant infections of the coronavirus (Reuters).
• Kuwait has suspended passenger transport by sea due to concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic but shipping operations continue (Reuters).
• Oman will allow anyone holding a COVID-19 vaccine certificate to travel to the country from Sept. 1 (Reuters)
• New Zealand‘s prime minister extended the country’s COVID-19 lockdown to Aug 27, as the country added 38 cases to its total over the past day (CIDRAP).
• Europe.  In an effort to harmonize Covid digital certification, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has made public the decision to render the EU Digital Covid Certificate (DCC), aka the Green Pass, and the UK National Health Service (NHS) Covid Pass uploadable in the IATA Travel Pass as a valid proof of vaccination (Airways).

Global cases and deaths. As of 24 August, Johns Hopkins University counts 212,770,406 COVID-19 cases and 4,445,854 deaths, and the WHO COVID-19 dashboard reports as of 23 August 211,730,035 cases and 4,430,697 deaths.

As notable cases:

• New Zealand on Tuesday reported 41 new COVID-19 cases, taking the total infections in the country to 148. Its highest increase in COVID-19 cases since April 2020 (Reuters).
• France said on Monday the number of people hospitalised for COVID-19 and those treated in intensive care units (ICU) stood at the highest levels in more than two months, as the Delta variant of the disease has put a renewed strain on the health system (Reuters).
• India reported 25,467 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, according to a government on Tuesday (Reuters).
• Iran on Tuesday reported a record daily 709 deaths from COVID-19 as the worst-hit country in the Middle East faced a fifth surge in infections led by the highly contagious Delta variant (Reuters).
• Nigeria. The number of people testing positive for coronavirus has risen sharply in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial hub which is also Africa’s biggest city. The test positivity rate has jumped to 12.1% as of Aug. 21 from 7% at the end of July (Bloomberg).

Vaccination campaigns around the world continue. As of 23 August, Our World in Data reports 32.7% of the world population has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and 24.6% is fully vaccinated. 5 billion doses have been administered globally, and 33.56 million are now administered each day. Only 1.4% of people in low-income countries have received at least one dose. The WHO COVID-19 dashboard reports as of 23 August over 4.61 billion administered vaccine doses.

As notable cases:

• Egypt will vaccinate all 4.5 million of its state employees against COVID-19 in August and September as it seeks to accelerate vaccinations ahead of a likely fourth wave of infections, the health minister said on Monday (Reuters).
• Cuba will supply large quantities of its home-grown COVID-19 vaccine, Abdala, to Vietnam and also transfer the production technology to the Southeast Asian country by the end of the year, the Vietnamese health ministry said on Tuesday (Reuters).
• Israel expanded its COVID-19 vaccine booster shots to those over 30 years old on Tuesday, broadening its booster campaign to fend off the coronavirus Delta variant (Reuters).
• United States. The FDA has granted full approval to the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for people 16 and older, paving the way for more vaccine mandates and hopefully encouraging more hesitant people to get the shot (CNN).

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.