World Status Report

This report intends to give the UTD Community a snapshot of international risks, and other issues as reported by the linked official sources from the U.S. and other countries.

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

The hostilities and escalation of violence between Israel and Hamas has entered its 11th day. Humanitarian actors continue to plead for access to Gaza as the humanitarian situation deteriorates (ERCC). Since 1 of April, more than 30,000 people have been forcibly displaced in Tillaberi region in Niger due to increasing violence perpetrated against civilian population (ERCC). Millions of children trapped in protracted conflict in Syria continue to endure severe violence with little support for survivors, according to the UN Secretary-General’s third report on the situation, launched on Wednesday (UN News).

Natural Disasters

Severe weather has impacted various countries resulting in casualties, displacement and damage.  Floods in Burundi.  Floods, heavy rain, and strong winds in the United States and Mexico. Heavy rain and thunderstorms in Guatemala.  Floods in Venezuela. Volcanic activity was reported in Italy‘s Stromboli volcano, a Volcanic Ash Advisory code orange has been issued (ERCC). Greek authorities moved more people to safety on Thursday as firefighters battled a forest fire that spread from the Corinth region of southern Greece to western Attica (Reuters).

COVID-19

International preventative measures against COVID-19, including entry restrictions and in-country mobility remain very fluid, and can be imposed without prior notice. Details 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.  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: Sao Paulo, Brazil announced Wednesday it will start easing Covid-19 restrictions from June 1 despite rising new cases and hospitalization rates (CNN). Almost a year after closing its borders, the European Union has agreed to allow entry to vaccinated travelers from countries with low infection rates (CNN). Australia plans to reopen borders to the rest of the world from the middle of 2022 even as the federal budget unveiled last week hopes to fully vaccinate its near 26 million population by the end of this year (Al Jazeera).

Globally, as of 20 May, Johns Hopkins University counts 164,981,323 COVID-19 cases and 3,419,700 deaths, and the WHO COVID-19 dashboard reports 164,409,804 cases and 3,409,220 deaths. 

As notable cases: Taiwan reported 295 new Covid-19 infections Thursday (CNN). India reported 276,110 new cases of Covid-19 Thursday (CNN). Malaysia recorded its highest daily increase of Covid-19 infections with 6,075 new cases Wednesday (CNN). The pandemic likely contributed to an additional 979,000 deaths in 2020 across 29 high-income countries, according to a study led by an international team of scientists and published Wednesday in the British Medical Journal (CNN). In Argentina cases have risen from a daily total of about 5,000 in early March to a record 35,000 this week amid relaxed restrictions and a low vaccination rate (The Guardian). PAHO Director Carissa F. Etienne notes that in Latin America, although COVID-19 infections generally have declined in the past month, new cases and deaths are still on the rise in many countries, including the Bahamas, Haiti and Trinidad and Tobago which have seen COVID-19 deaths double in the last week. Costa Rica, Panama, and parts of Honduras are reporting dramatic increases in new infections. Infections are increasing in Bolivia, and French Guiana while the “decreasing trends” in Brazil in previous weeks have paused. Some hotspots in Argentina and Uruguay saw a doubling of cases and deaths in the last week (PAHO).

Vaccination campaigns around the world continue.  As of 19 May, Our World in Data reports 1.56 billion administered vaccine doses globally. The WHO COVID-19 dashboard as of 18 May reports over 1.4 billion administered vaccine doses.

As notable cases: A total of 1.5 million people in Nepal are not able to get their second dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, as the country’s stocks run out and supply prospects have become clouded by India’s curb on vaccine exports (CNN). Covid-19 booster shot will likely be needed within a year of vaccination, according to Pfizer CEO Albert Boula and Dr. Anthony Fauci (CNN). Kenya’s health authorities say they will not be able to give a second dose of COVID-19 vaccines until at least June, due to a shortage of AstraZeneca doses. Kenya has vaccinated less than 2 percent of its people so far (VOA).  Health authorities in Malawi destroyed nearly twenty thousand expired doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine (Al Jazeera).

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.