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

• Ethiopia. Six nations including the United States say they are “profoundly concerned” about reports that the Ethiopian government is carryout mass detentions based on ethnicity and without charge (VOA).
• Nigeria. At least 30 passengers on a bus in Nigeria’s Sokoto state were burnt to death when gunmen torched it on Tuesday, police and residents said, in yet another reminder of growing insecurity in Africa’s most populous country (MSN).
• Yemen. Fighting between troops loyal to Yemen’s internationally recognized government and Iranian-backed Houthi rebels displaced over 25,000 people around a key port city last month, the United Nations said late Tuesday (AP).

Health

• Mozambique. According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), nearly 1.9 million Mozambicans are estimated to experience high levels of acute food insecurity during the current lean season (November 2021 to March 2022) and are in need of urgent humanitarian assistance. Key drivers of the food insecurity are armed conflict in Cabo Delgado, erratic rainfall, and the impact of COVID-19 restrictions on livelihoods (ERCC).
• India.  Even as the number of coronavirus cases has diminished, another crisis has unfolded in homes across India: With high unemployment and a record contraction in the economy following two nationwide lockdowns, many families have lost both their purchasing power and savings and can now scarcely afford three meals a day. There are no nationwide numbers on the state of food insecurity in India, but recent studies point to an alarming problem (WaPo).

Migration

• Central America. Coffee crisis in Central America fuels record exodus north. Coffee doesn’t pay for many of the hundreds of thousands of Central American farmers who produce the delicate arabica beans for the world’s finest grounds. Increasingly, they are giving up, becoming part of a broader migrant flow to the U.S.-Mexico border that U.S. data shows has hit a record high this year (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:

• World. The African Union on Tuesday called for an urgent end to travel restrictions imposed on some of its member states, saying the measures effectively penalize governments for timely data sharing in line with international health regulations (Reuters).
• United Kingdom. Britain could implement tougher COVID-19 measures, including advice to work from home, as early as Thursday in a bid to slow the spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, according to media reports (Reuters).
• Austria. After imposing a national lockdown and restricting entry for the majority of travellers, the Austrian authorities have revealed that travel for touristic purposes will be allowed again after December 13 (Reuters).

Global cases and deaths. As of 08 December, Johns Hopkins University counts 267,344,049 COVID-19 cases and 5,275,476 deaths. The WHO COVID-19 dashboard reports as of 07 December 265,713,467 confirmed cases, including 5,260,888 deaths.

As notable cases:

• World. The Omicron variant has been reported in 57 nations and the number of patients needing hospitalisation is likely to rise as it spreads, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday (Reuters).
• World. Globally, weekly COVID-19 case incidence plateaued this week (29 November – 5 December 2021), with over 4 million confirmed new cases reported, similar to the number reported in the previous week’s figures. However, new weekly deaths increased by 10% as compared to the previous week, with over 52 500 new deaths reported. As of 5 December, nearly 265 million confirmed cases and over 5.2 million deaths have been reported globally (WHO).
• South Korea will consider expanding home treatment of COVID-19 patients, a health official said on Wednesday, as both new daily infections and severe cases hit record highs, putting hospital capacity under strain (Reuters).
• Germany recorded the highest number of deaths from COVID-19 since February on Wednesday as it battles to stop a fourth wave of the pandemic (Reuters).

Vaccination campaigns around the world continue. As of 07 December, Our World in Data reports 55.3% of the world population has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. 8.28 billion doses have been administered globally, and 32.71 million are now administered each day. Only 6.3% of people in low-income countries have received at least one dose. The WHO COVID-19 dashboard reports as of 06 December over 7.95 billion administered vaccine doses.

As notable cases:

• BioNTech and Pfizer (PFE.N) said on Wednesday a three-shot course of their COVID-19 vaccine was able to neutralise the new Omicron variant in a laboratory test and said they could deliver an upgraded vaccine in March 2022 if needed. “Ensuring as many people as possible are fully vaccinated with the first two dose series and a booster remains the best course of action to prevent the spread of COVID-19,” Pfizer boss Albert Bourla said in the statement. (Reuters).

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.