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 and 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

• North Korea. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says it is “deeply troubled” by indications that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) appears to have restarted its Yongbyon nuclear reactor (UN News).
• Ethiopia. Being in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region right now is difficult for anyone. Famine, conflict, and sexual violence are prevalent, and communications and humanitarian aid are largely cut off. But the situation is particularly difficult for Eritrean refugees in Tigray, who seem to be taking fire from all sides (UN Dispatch).
• Afghanistan. Surging prices and packed lines at banks underscored the potential for the country’s economic collapse as countries and international organizations weigh how to approach financial ties with a Taliban-led Afghanistan (FT). Afghanistan’s healthcare system is at risk of collapse, two major aid agencies told Reuters, after foreign donors stopped providing aid following the Taliban takeover (Reuters).

Natural Disasters

• Indonesia. The number of casualties due to floods and landslides that have been affecting parts of Indonesia is increasing (ERCC).
• India. Following incessant rains, 21 districts of Assam State are affected by floods. According to the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), as of 30 August, 363,135 people have been affected (ERCC).
• Nepal. Floods and a landslide event occurred on 30 August in Darchula District (Sudurpashchim Province, far western Nepal), leading to fatalities (ERCC).
• Sri Lanka. Severe weather, particularly strong winds were reported across Western, Sabaragamuwa, and Southern Provinces of Sri Lanka, resulting in casualties (ERCC).
• Pakistan. Heavy rain and thunderstorms have affected two Districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province (northern Pakistan) on 30 August, resulting in casualties and damage (ERCC).
• United States. After IDA’s passage power outages continue to affect more than 1 million individuals in Louisiana and at least 70,000 people in Mississippi (ERCC).
• Spain. Heavy rain affected Castellón and Valencia Provinces (Valencian Community) on 29 and 30 August, causing flash floods and resulting in damage (ERCC).
• Israel and Jordan are poised for an unprecedented increase in water cooperation amid increasing climate pressures (Al Jazeera).

Health

• Haiti. This month’s earthquake has exacerbated the food insecurity crisis: destroying crops and livestock, leveling markets, contaminating waterways used as sources of drinking water, and damaging bridges and roads crucial to reaching villages (Reuters).
• Hong Kong will further relax a contentious plan to let non-local doctors practise in the city in order to tackle a shortfall of medical staff in the public sector, the city’s Health Secretary said on Tuesday (Reuters).
• European Union governments agreed on Monday to remove the United States from the EU’s safe travel list, meaning U.S. visitors and those from five other countries are likely to face tighter controls, such as COVID-19 tests and quarantines (Reuters).
• Lebanon. The Lebanese flour millers’ association said on Tuesday fuel shortages were threatening bread production and mills would gradually stop working after supplies ran out (Reuters).

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:

• Oman. Only vaccinated people will be allowed to travel to Oman in an effort to stop the spread of Covid-19 (Guardian).
• Thailand is set to allow some domestic flights to and from Bangkok and other high-risk COVID-19 areas to resume tomorrow (Reuters).
• Indonesia. 600 schools in Jakarta reopened yesterday as COVID-19 restrictions eased (Reuters).

Global cases and deaths. As of 31 August, Johns Hopkins University counts 217,340,050 COVID-19 cases and 4,513,863 deaths, and the WHO COVID-19 dashboard reports as of 30 August 216,303,376 cases and 4,498,451 deaths.

As notable cases:

• Singapore has reported 156 new local coronavirus cases today, its highest number in almost six weeks (Guardian).
• Israel has recorded its highest daily coronavirus case tally of nearly 11,000 new infections, as schools prepare to reopen (Guardian).
• South Korea has expressed “cautious hope” that Covid transmissions are starting to slow, after battling the country’s worst wave of infections for weeks (Guardian).
• New Zealand. New COVID-19 cases have fallen for a second straight day in New Zealand, amid a tight lockdown (Reuters).
• United States. For only the second time during the 18 months America has been battling COVID-19, the country reached 100,000 daily hospitalizations due to infection with the virus, matching the previous record seen last winter (CIDRAP).

Vaccination campaigns around the world continue. As of 30 August, Our World in Data reports 39.5% of the world population has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. 5.29 billion doses have been administered globally, and 41.1 million are now administered each day. Only 1.7% of people in low-income countries have received at least one dose. The WHO COVID-19 dashboard reports as of 30 August over 5.01 billion administered vaccine doses.

As notable cases:

• Spain has sent 6m doses of anti-Covid vaccine to Latin America out of the 7.5m doses it had promised (Guardian).
• Thailand. Government data analysed by Reuters shows Thailand has fully vaccinated just 6.7% of its elderly population (people 60 and older) compared with 15% of adults aged 18 to 59 and 10.2% of the total population (Guardian).
• European Union. Seven in 10 (70%) of the European Union’s adult population have been fully vaccinated against Covid.  The percentage per country in the bloc varies (Guardian).
• Taiwan has confirmed that 900,000 doses of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine will arrive in the country “soon” (Guardian).
• Australia will ramp up its vaccination programme this week after prime minister Scott Morrison announced it is set to receive 500,000 doses of the Pfizer jab in a swap deal with Singapore (Guardian).
• South Korea is planning to roll out COVID-19 booster shots from October (Reuters).

Supply chains

• Vietnam has added to concerns over global supplies of coffee as the South East Asian country’s biggest city remains in lockdown (BBC).

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.