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.

Natural Disasters

• Brazil. Several Municipalities of Bahia State (eastern Brazil) continue to be affected by heavy rain and widespread floods since mid-November, resulting in an increasing number of casualties and damage (ERCC).
• Greece. Heavy rain has affected western, central and northern Greece over the past few days, causing floods, rivers to overflow and leading to casualties and damage (ERCC).
• United States. U.S. President Joe Biden on Saturday approved an emergency declaration for Kentucky after the state was battered by a swarm of tornadoes that killed at least 70 people (Reuters).
• Canary Islands. Spain on Monday ordered more than 30,000 people to remain indoors on La Palma island because of toxic gases from a volcano that has been erupting for months. After several days of low-level activity, the Cumbre Viejo suddenly sprang to life on Sunday with several explosions sending a vast cloud of ash and smoke into the sky (CBS).

Health

• Europe. Influenza activity has been increasing throughout the European Region. In total, 5% of all sentinel primary care specimens from patients presenting with ILI or ARI symptoms tested positive for influenza virus. Several countries have reported seasonal influenza activity above the 10% positivity threshold in sentinel primary care or hospital settings (Armenia, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kosovo*, Kyrgyzstan, Russian Federation). Hospitalised cases with confirmed influenza virus infection have been reported from intensive care units and SARI surveillance (ECDC).
• Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger. Some 5.5 million in the three countries on the edge of the Sahara are facing food shortages, a figure the U.N. estimates could rise to 8.2 million by August, when food is most scarce before the harvest (Reuters).

Migration

• Mexico. At least 55 people were killed and dozens more were injured when a truck packed with migrants flipped over in the state of Chiapas on Thursday (Reuters). A large group of thousands of migrants from across Latin America, which has slowly been winding its way through Mexico, has clashed with police. Sunday’s clash happened as the group approached the capital, Mexico City (BBC).

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:

• Canada will start recognizing molecular COVID-19 tests conducted at an accredited lab in South Africa for residents returning home (Reuters).
• Australia. Coronavirus-free Queensland state opened its domestic borders to all vaccinated people on Monday for the first time in nearly five months, as Australians gear up for quarantine-free travel across most of the country during the busy Christmas period (Reuters).
• China has ordered some border cities to beef up vigilance against COVID-19 with measures such as mandatory testing for travellers (Reuters).

Global cases and deaths. As of 13 December, Johns Hopkins University counts 270,318,793 COVID-19 cases and 5,308,970 deaths. The WHO COVID-19 dashboard reports as of 10 December 267,865,289 confirmed cases, including 5,285,888 deaths.

As notable cases:

• World. As of 9 December 2021, and since 26 November 2021, globally, 2170 confirmed cases of the Omicron variant have been confirmed in 60 countries (ECDC).
• United Kingdom. At least one person has died in the United Kingdom after contracting the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday, warning that the variant now accounted for 40% of infections in the British capital (Reuters). Britain raised its COVID alert level on Sunday in response to the rapid spread of the Omicron variant of the virus, as medical authorities warned that hospitalisations are likely to rise sharply over the coming weeks (Reuters). Increasing the UK Covid alert from three to four means that the epidemic is “in general circulation, transmission is high and direct Covid-19 pressure on healthcare services is widespread and substantial or rising”, according to Government guidance (Mirror).

Vaccination campaigns around the world continue. As of 12 December, Our World in Data reports 56% of the world population has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. 8.47 billion doses have been administered globally, and 34.09 million are now administered each day. Only 7.1% of people in low-income countries have received at least one dose. The WHO COVID-19 dashboard reports as of 11 December over 8.18 billion administered vaccine doses.

As notable cases:

• Cyprus will start vaccinating children between the ages of 5 to 11 (Guardian).
• Australia has announced plans to shorten the wait time for people to receive a COVID-19 booster, following a rise in cases of the Omicron variant. The gap between second and third dose will be cut from six to five months (Reuters).
• Israeli researchers said on Saturday that they’ve found a three-shot course of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine provided significant protection against the new Omicron variant (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.