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

• Algeria decided on Wednesday to close the country’s airspace to all Moroccan civil and military aircraft, less than a month after it cut diplomatic relations with the Kingdom (Reuters).
• Lebanon‘s state electricity company said on Thursday it risked a total blackout across the country by end-September as its fuel oil reserves dwindle (Reuters).
• Kosovo-Serbia. Ethnic Serbs blocked the Kosovo-Serbia border for a third straight day Wednesday to protest a decision by Kosovo authorities to start removing Serbian license plates from cars entering the country (Greenwich Time).
• Mexico. The Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) – an organization best known for staging an armed uprising in southern Mexico in January 1994 – has released a statement warning that Chiapas is on the verge of civil war (MND)

Natural Disasters

• Philippines. On 20 September, flash floods were reported across four Districts of Davao Region (southeastern Mindanao Island, southern Philippines) (ERCC).
• Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand. Tropical Cyclone TWENTYONE formed over the western South China Sea and is moving northwest towards central-eastern Vietnam. On 23-24 September, heavy rain and strong winds are forecast over the Provinces of central and eastern Vietnam and heavy rain is expected over southern Laos, eastern Thailand and northeastern Cambodia (ERCC).
• Guam, Northern Mariana Islands. Tropical Cyclone TWENTY formed over the western Pacific Ocean and is moving west-northwest. Heavy rain and strong winds are forecast over Guam and Northern Mariana Islands where a Tropical Storm Watch is in effect (ERCC).
• Guatemala. On 20-21 September, severe weather including heavy rain and strong winds occurred across several Departments of Guatemala, resulting in damage and affected people (ERCC).
• Canary Islands. Jets of red hot lava shot high into the sky on the Spanish island of La Palma on Thursday morning as toxic ash from the Cumbre Vieja volcano coated the surrounding area and authorities sought shelter for thousands of people forced to flee.  A plume of thick cloud now extends some 4.2 km (2.6 miles) into the air, raising concerns of visibility for flights. The airport remains open but authorities have told pilots to steer clear of the eruption site (Reuters).

Health

• Yemen. The crisis in Yemen, now in its seventh year of war, continues unabated, with thousands of people displaced and millions “a step away from starvation”, the UN Humanitarian Relief Coordinator said on Wednesday during a high-level side event on the margins of the 76th General Assembly. “The country’s economy has reached new depths of collapse, and a third wave of the pandemic is threatening to crash the country’s already fragile health-care system”, Humanitarian Affairs chief Martin Griffiths told world leaders at the meeting (UN News).
• Guinea-Bissau. A health workers’ strike in Guinea-Bissau has paralyzed the healthcare system, 30 patients have died, a spokesperson for the nurses’ union said on Wednesday (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:

• Uganda on Wednesday eased anti-coronavirus restrictions, including allowing resumption of education for universities and other post-secondary institutions, citing a decline in infections in the country (Reuters).
• United Kingdom. England’s new rules, considers travellers “fully vaccinated” with Oxford/AstraZeneca, Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna or Janssen shots administered in the US, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea or an EU country and exempt from quarantine when they arrive in England from an amber list country.  People who have been fully vaccinated with the same vaccines in Africa or Latin America, as well as other countries including India, will be considered “not fully vaccinated” and forced to quarantine for 10 days on arrival from an amber list country (Guardian).
• In New Zealand, people looking to get a fast-food fix could soon be asked if they would like a vaccine with their meal. The country aims to vaccinate at least 90% of its population and the government is now in talks with the fast-food giant KFC to help reach that goal (Guardian).
• Thailand is considering cutting hotel isolation requirements for vaccinated tourists in half to one week in a bid to attract foreign visitors again (Guardian).
• South Korea warned people returning from a holiday to get tested even for the mildest Covid type symptoms, especially before clocking in for work amid a new surge in coronavirus cases in and around the capital, Reuters reports (Guardian).

Global cases and deaths. As of 23 September, Johns Hopkins University counts 230,189,529 COVID-19 cases and 4,721,127 deaths, and the WHO COVID-19 dashboard reports as of 22 September 229,373,963 cases and 4,705,111 deaths.

As notable cases:

• Americas. The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) warned on Wednesday that countries in the region could continue to face localized COVID-19 outbreaks “well into 2022” even while deaths have fallen from their peak in January (Reuters).
• Syria is facing a new surge in COVID-19 infections in both government-held areas and territory outside state control that could overwhelm the war-ravaged country’s fragile health system, aid workers, officials and medical sources said on Wednesday (Reuters).
• United States. Alaska, which led most U.S. states in coronavirus vaccinations months ago, took the drastic step on Wednesday of imposing crisis-care standards for its entire hospital system, declaring that a crushing surge in COVID-19 patients has forced rationing of strained medical resources (Reuters).
• Russia matched its previous highest coronavirus death toll on Thursday as the Delta variant and a slowing vaccine drive pushed up infections, AFP reports (Guardian).

Vaccination campaigns around the world continue. As of 22 September, Our World in Data reports 43.9% of the world population has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. 6.03 billion doses have been administered globally, and 27.85 million are now administered each day. Only 2.1% of people in low-income countries have received at least one dose. The WHO COVID-19 dashboard reports as of 22 September over 5.86 billion administered vaccine doses.

As notable cases:

• Europe. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) expects to decide in early October on the possible use of a booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech (PFE.N), COVID-19 vaccine (Reuters).
• Italy plans to give other countries 45 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines before the end of the year, three times its original pledge, Prime Minister Mario Draghi said on Thursday (Reuters).
• United States. The FDA on Wednesday authorized a booster dose of the Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) and BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for those 65 and older, all people at high risk of severe disease, and others who are regularly exposed to the virus (Reuters).
• Uganda aims to vaccinate at least 6 million people, the equivalent of more than 10% of its population, by the end of the year before schools can resume, reports the BBC (Guardian).
• Portugal could be just days away from hitting its goal of fully vaccinating 85% of its population against coronavirus (Guardian).

Impact

• World. More than 100 countries face cuts to public spending on health, education and social protection as the Covid-19 pandemic compounds already high levels of debt, a new report says. The International Monetary Fund believes that 35 to 40 countries are “debt distressed” – defined as when a country is experiencing difficulties in servicing its debt, such as when there are arrears or debt restructuring (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.