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 National Emergency Response and Rehabilitation Council (CONASUR) estimates nearly 1.25 million of people in Burkina Faso are suffering from insecurity and displacement due to conflict (ERCC). Three employees of the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) agency have been killed by unknown attackers in the restive Tigray region of Ethiopia (UN News), and lack of clear demarcation in al-Fashaga has led to fighting between the two sides in recent months, as well as abduction and killing of civilians villages on the border with Sudan (AlJazeera). The UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, appealed on Thursday for urgent resources to support thousands of people who have fled armed violence in two small towns in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) over the past two months.  In a report published earlier this year, UNICEF called for an end to the conflict in the eastern DRC, which has generated one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world (UN News).

Natural Disasters

Heavy rain has caused floods and resulted in casualties and damage in southern Ghana. Tropical Cyclone ENRIQUE, now a Category 1 Hurricane northwards along the western coast of central Mexico, with heavy winds and high waves already causing some damage. Since 18 June, floods caused by heavy rain has been affecting parts of Romania, including Bucharest Capital City, resulting in casualties (ERCC). Climate variability is causing massive numbers of people around the world to move — both across borders and within borders. And as climate variability intensifies, we can probably expect more and more people on the move (UN Dispatch).

Health

In Réunion, French authorities have reported 24 836 confirmed dengue cases for 2021, including 2 056 confirmed cases in week 22 and 1 474 cases in week 23, with the whole territory affected. On 19 June 2021, the outbreak in Guinea was officially declared over, just over four months after the outbreak was declared (ECDC). Doctors in France are warning about the immunity debt: When people avoided each other during the pandemic, they failed to build up the immunity against viruses that comes from normal contact. As regular life resumes, society may find payments on that debt coming due, in the form of worse-than-normal viral disease outbreaks (WSJ).

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: The rapid spread of the delta coronavirus variant has forced a growing number of countries to reimpose lockdowns and other public health restrictions, raising fears that the more contagious variant was hampering global efforts to contain the pandemic (WaPo). As notable cases:  Indonesia‘s health minister is leading a push for stricter controls as coronavirus cases surge to unprecedented levels (Reuters). As cases mount, South Africa announces new restrictions (NYT). COVID-19: Delta variant prompts new travel restrictions across Europe (Euronews). In Australia, Sydney is in lockdown, Perth could follow, borders are still closed and hardly anyone is vaccinated. Australians are wondering how much longer this can go on. The crisis has also highlighted the dangers posed by hotel quarantine, which is the source of most cases of community virus spread in Australia (CNN) (NPR). Israel on Friday told residents they need to start wearing face masks indoors again because of an uptick in coronavirus infections that health authorities think is caused by the Delta variant (WebMD).  New Zealand halts the trans-Tasman bubble to all of Australia, possibly resuming with negative COVID test results.  “There are now several cases and outbreaks in Australia in various stages of containment, and the health risk to New Zealand as a result of these cases is growing” (Airways). The United States does not intend to remove the entry restrictions on travellers from the European Union and Schengen Area countries, for now, a US official has confirmed (Schengenvisainfo).

Global cases and deaths. As of 28 June, Johns Hopkins University counts 181,188,314 COVID-19 cases and 3,925,116 deaths, and the WHO COVID-19 dashboard reports  180,654,652 cases and 3,920,463 deaths.

As notable cases: Officials on the Spanish island of Mallorca are investigating a coronavirus outbreak involving hundreds of students who went there on holiday, even as they prepare for an influx of British tourists after their government eased travel restrictions (NYT). In Russia, regions run low on vaccines as COVID-19 cases jump (Reuters). In Indonesia, the health system in West Java is close to collapse as bed occupancy rates have exceeded 90% and at some hospitals the rate is over 100% (AlJazeera). At a World Health Organization (WHO) African regional office briefing, Director Matshidiso Moeti, MBBS, said Africa‘s third wave is accelerating and hitting harder than earlier waves, with increased reports of serious illness. She said the surge is led by the Delta variant and people’s fatigue with maintaining COVID-19 measures (CIDRAP).  The 23 June ECDC risk assessment of the Delta variant notes: Based on the available evidence, the SARS-CoV-2 Delta (B.1.617.2) variant of concern (VOC) is 40-60% more transmissible than the Alpha (Β.1.1.7) VOC and may be associated with higher risk of hospitalization. There is evidence that partial vaccination offers less protection against infection with the Delta variant than against other variants, regardless of the vaccine type. However, full vaccination provides nearly equivalent protection against the Delta variant. The overall risk of infection is considered:

• For the General Population: Low for fully vaccinated sub-populations and high-to-very high for partially or unvaccinated sub-populations.
• For Vulnerable Population: Low-to-moderate for fully vaccinated sub-populations and very high for partially or unvaccinated sub-populations.

Vaccination campaigns around the world continue.  As of 27 June, Our World in Data reports 2.96 billion administered vaccine doses globally. The WHO COVID-19 dashboard reports as of 22 June over 2.65 billion administered vaccine doses.

As notable cases: Australia steps up vaccine push to stem COVID-19 outbreak (Reuters). Millions of people in Brazil are missing their second doses of Covid-19 vaccine, further complicating a campaign already marred by supply shortages and allegations of graft (NYT).

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.