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

• Myanmar. The UN Country Team in Myanmar remains “deeply concerned over the humanitarian impact” of the country’s ongoing crises stemming largely from the military coup in February, the UN Spokesperson said on Tuesday (UN News).
• Middle East. Political stagnation is “fuelling tensions, instability and a deepening sense of hopelessness”, the top UN official working towards peace in the Middle East warned the Security Council on Tuesday (UN News).
• Ethiopia launched its third air strike this week on the capital of the northern Tigray region on Wednesday, stepping up a campaign to weaken rebellious Tigrayan forces in an almost year-old war (Reuters).

Natural Disasters

• Nepal. Flash floods, floods and landslides caused by heavy rain have been affecting different parts of Nepal, leading to casualties, missing people, displacement, and damage (ERCC).
• India.  Heavy rain has been affecting the Himalayan State of Uttarakhand (northern India) over the past 72 hours, triggering several landslides and causing flash floods that have resulted in casualties, missing people, and severe damage (ERCC).
• Colombia. Floods, landslides and river overflow caused by recent heavy rain and thunderstorms were reported across Antioquia Department (north-west Colombia), resulting in casualties and damage (ERCC).
• Japan‘s Mount Aso on the main southern island of Kyushu erupted on Wednesday, blasting ash several miles into the sky and prompting officials to warn against the threat of lava flows and falling rocks, but there were no reports of injuries or casualties (Reuters).

Health

• World. Deaths from tuberculosis (TB) have risen for the first time in a decade, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The World Health Organization estimates the number of people developing TB and dying from the disease could be much higher in 2021 and 2022 (WEForum).

Road Safety

• Congo (DRC). About 50 people were killed in southern Democratic Republic of Congo when a truck overturned and plunged into a river, the provincial governor’s office said on Tuesday. Road accidents are common in Congo because of decrepit infrastructure and poor safety standards (Reuters).

Of note

• Paraguay, Brazil. The giant Itaipu hydroelectric power plant, wedged between Paraguay and Brazil on the Parana River, is facing an energy crunch amid record low river and rainfall levels that experts say could last into next year. The plant supplies 10% of Brazil energy and 86% of Paraguay’s (Reuters).
• Kazakhstan is limiting power supply to some consumers a day after three major coal-fired power stations suffered shutdowns, grid operator KEGOC said on Friday (Nasdaq).

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. The University Vaccine Requirement Checker notes universities that require a COVID-19 Vaccine.

As notable cases:

• Kenya lifted a nationwide curfew on Wednesday that has been in place since March 2020 to curb the spread of the coronavirus, President Uhuru Kenyatta announced (Reuters).
• Singapore will extend its social curbs to contain the spread of COVID-19 for around a month in order to ease the pressure on the healthcare system, the government said on Wednesday (Reuters).
• Bulgaria will make a COVID-19 ‘Green Certificate’ mandatory for indoor access to restaurants, cinemas, gyms and shopping malls. The pass shows someone has been vaccinated, tested negative or recently recovered from the virus (Reuters).
• Australia. COVID-19 travel restrictions between Sydney and Melbourne have been eased, as Victoria opened its borders to fully vaccinated residents of New South Wales (Reuters).

Global cases and deaths. As of 20 October, Johns Hopkins University counts 241,693,471 COVID-19 cases and 4,916,060 deaths, and the WHO COVID-19 dashboard reports as of 19 October 240,940,937 cases and 4,903,911 deaths.

As notable cases:

• World. Globally, the numbers of weekly COVID-19 cases and deaths has stabilized this week, with over 2.7 million cases and over 46 000 new deaths, a 4% and 2% decrease respectively, representing similar numbers as those reported last week’s. With the exception of the European region, which for the third consecutive week reported an increase in new COVID-19 cases (7% increase as compared with the previous week), all the other regions reported a decline. The largest decrease in new weekly cases was reported from the African Region (18%), followed by the Western Pacific Region (17%). The cumulative number of confirmed cases reported globally is now over 240 million and the cumulative number of deaths is over 4.8 million. The number of new weekly deaths reported globally also showed a stabilization (2% decrease as compared with the previous week), with similar numbers as those reported last week’s in the European region (4% increase), Western Pacific region (1% increase) and the American region (1% decrease). The largest decline in new weekly deaths was reported from the African region showing a 24% decrease as compared to the previous week (WHO).
• Senegal recorded zero new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday for the first time since the pandemic began, the health ministry said (Reuters).
• China reported a fourth day of new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases in a handful of cities across China, prompting alarmed local governments to double down on efforts to track potential carriers amid the country’s zero-tolerance policy (Reuters).
• Iran is bracing for a sixth major wave of COVID-19 infections even as its nationwide vaccination efforts have accelerated in recent weeks (Al Jazeera).
• Russia. The city’s mayor ordered unvaccinated people over sixty and people with chronic illnesses to stay home as Russia struggles with record COVID-19 deaths. Only 35 percent of the population has had at least one vaccine dose (BBC).
• France. COVID-19 hospitalizations have risen for the third consecutive day. A trend not seen for almost two months, health authorities said (Reuters).
• Netherlands. New confirmed COVID-19 cases rose 44% in the week through Tuesday, with some hospitals cutting back on regular care to deal with the increase in infections (Reuters).
• United Kingdom. Britain has reported 223 deaths within 28 days of a positive COVID-19 test – the highest figure since March (Reuters).
• Europe. COVID-19 is once again surging in Europe, particularly in the UK and Central and Eastern Europe (Our World in Data).

Vaccination campaigns around the world continue. As of 19 October, Our World in Data reports 47.9% of the world population has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. 6.72 billion doses have been administered globally, and 19.91 million are now administered each day. Only 2.8% of people in low-income countries have received at least one dose. The WHO COVID-19 dashboard reports as of 19 October over 6.54 billion administered vaccine doses.

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.