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

• Congo (DRC). People in Ituri province in eastern Democratic Republic of tCongo (DRC) have been facing a new wave of violence in recent weeks. Continued attacks and violence are also forcing many aid organisations to reduce or suspend their activities. Some of them have gone public, warning about the considerable reduction of humanitarian access to crisis-affected people (ERCC).
• Sudan. Sudanese security forces deployed tear gas on tens of thousands of protesters gathering in central Khartoum on Tuesday to oppose military rule following last month’s coup (Reuters).
• China. Security officials in one of China’s largest provinces have commissioned a surveillance system they say they want to use to track journalists and international students among other “suspicious people”, documents reviewed by Reuters showed (Reuters).
• Mexico. An unprecedented wave of violence has overtaken the streets of Zacatecas, where according to security experts, four drug cartels are fighting to control territory: Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), Sinaloa Cartel, Los Zetas and the Gulf cartel, along with local gangs (Courier Journal).
• Uganda, Congo (DRC). The Ugandan military, in partnership with forces from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), launched air strikes against the Allied Democratic Forces, which Ugandan authorities blamed for suicide bombings in Kampala earlier this month (Al Jazeera).

Natural Disasters

• Indonesia. Heavy rain has been affecting central Indonesia over the past few days, causing floods, triggering a landslide and resulting in casualties and damage (ERCC).
• Vietnam. In the past days, heavy rain generated floods and landslides in the Central and Central Highlands Regions of Vietnam, resulting in casualties (ERCC).
• Peru. Following the earthquake of 7.5 M that occurred on 28 November at 10.52 UTC (05.52 local time) in northern Peru the number of affected people has increased (ERCC).
• Turkey. In the past few days, heavy rain and strong winds have resulted in casualties and damage across parts of Turkey, including Marmara, Aegean and Mediterranean Regions in the west and south, as well as parts of the Black Sea Region (ERCC).

Health

• Chile. A huge fire at a factory in Santiago spewed out a dense gray plume of smoke over the Chilean capital city on Monday, forcing some planes to be diverted and neighborhood schools and nurseries to be suspended (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. The University Vaccine Requirement Checker notes universities that require a COVID-19 Vaccine.

As notable cases:

• Singapore. Singapore will hold off on more reopening measures while it evaluates the Omicron COVID-19 variant and will increase testing of travelers and frontline workers to reduce the risk of local transmission, authorities said on Tuesday (Reuters).
• China expects to hold the 2022 Winter Olympics “smoothly” and on schedule, despite challenges posed by the emergence of the new Omicron coronavirus variant, foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a regular daily briefing on Tuesday (Reuters).
• Hong Kong has banned non-residents from entering the city from four African countries and plans to expand that to travellers who have been to Australia, Canada, Israel and six European countries in the past 21 days due to fears over Omicron (Reuters).

Global cases and deaths. As of 30 November, Johns Hopkins University counts 262,312,703 COVID-19 cases and 5,211,147 deaths. The WHO COVID-19 dashboard reports as of 29 November 260,867,011 confirmed cases, including 5,200,267 deaths.

Vaccination campaigns around the world continue. As of 29 November, Our World in Data reports 54.4% of the world population has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. 7.98 billion doses have been administered globally, and 31.01 million are now administered each day. Only 5.9% of people in low-income countries have received at least one dose. The WHO COVID-19 dashboard reports as of 29 November over 7.77 billion administered vaccine doses.

As notable cases:

• Moderna. There was a fall in world share markets and shift to safer currencies and bonds on Tuesday after the CEO of drugmaker Moderna (MRNA.O) warned that COVID-19 vaccines are unlikely to be as effective against the new Omicron variant (Reuters).
• Oxford/AstraZeneca. The University of Oxford on Tuesday said there was no evidence that vaccines would not prevent severe disease from Omicron, but that it was ready to rapidly develop an updated version of its vaccine developed with AstraZeneca (AZN.L) if necessary (Reuters).
• South Africa. In an industrial area of this seaside city, a little-known biotech company is entering a pivotal phase of making Africa’s first coronavirus vaccine by attempting to replicate Moderna’s highly effective mRNA-based shot. Afrigen Biologics and Vaccines is racing to make a vaccine because, despite donation pledges, supply is short and just 6 percent of Africa’s 1.2 billion people have been inoculated. With help from the World Health Organization (WHO) and international consultants, including from the U.S. National Institutes of Health, Afrigen has become part of the African continent’s first training and technology transfer hub for mRNA vaccines, a step toward answering calls from global health officials for Africa to develop its own vaccine-manufacturing capability to avoid supply shortages during a crisis (WaPo). Hundreds of people queued in their cars to get vaccinated against Covid-19 at a drive-thru vaccination center in Cape Town, South Africa (MSN).
• Greece. Residents in Greece over 60 years old will have to undergo mandatory vaccinations against coronavirus or face monthly 100-euro ($114) fines beginning next year, the prime minister announced Tuesday, declaring the country’s first general inoculation mandate (AP).
• Rwanda is now offering COVID-19 booster doses, joining a few other African nations in doing so (Bloomberg).

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.