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.

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

• Afghanistan. Taliban insurgents tightened their grip on captured Afghan territory on Tuesday as civilians hid in their homes, and a European Union official said the militants now control 65% of the country after a string of gains as foreign forces pull out (Reuters). India shuts last consulate in Afghanistan and evacuates citizens (Reuters). Moscow and its Central Asian ex-Soviet allies have held two separate sets of military exercises close to Afghanistan this month as Taliban militants overran much of the country’s northern provinces directly adjacent to Central Asia (Reuters).
• Ethiopia. A recent escalation in fighting in Afar and other neighbouring regions, has been disastrous for children, said Henrietta Fore, Executive Director of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), in a statement on Monday (UN News). Ethiopia urges citizens to join armed forces as conflict spreads (Reuters)
• World. Despite an overall decrease in maritime traffic due to the COVID-19 pandemic, piracy and armed robbery of ships rose by nearly 20 per cent during the first half of last year, a senior UN official told the Security Council on Monday. Incidents in Asia have nearly doubled, while West Africa, the Straits of Malacca and Singapore, and the South China Sea, were the most affected areas. The “unprecedented” levels of insecurity in the Gulf of Guinea, and more recently in the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea, were also particularly concerning (UN News).
• Thailand. Police in Thailand fired tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets to disperse protesters who took to the streets of Bangkok on Tuesday amid anger over the handling of the coronavirus pandemic by Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha’s government (Reuters).
• China. A Chinese court upheld on Tuesday a Canadian man’s death sentence for drug smuggling, prompting condemnation from Ottawa, a day before another court is due to rule on the case of a Canadian accused of spying (Reuters).
• Guatemala. Members of one of Guatemala’s biggest farmers and indigenous groups blocked roads across the nation on Monday, calling on President Alejandro Giammattei and his attorney general to resign over the firing of a top anti-graft prosecutor (Reuters).

Natural Disasters

• India. Heavy rain continues to affect several states, causing floods resulting in casualties, displacement and damage (ERCC).
• Algeria. Several wildfires have been burning Kabylia Region (northern Algeria) since 9 August, resulting in casualties and damage (ERCC).
• South Sudan. Heavy rainfall has been affecting northern and central South Sudan since the start of the rainy season (early May), causing river overflow and floods, and resulting in casualties, displacement and damage (ERCC).
• Indonesia. Widespread floods and river overflow across several parts of Indonesia since the beginning of August, have led to casualties and damage (ERCC).
• Sudan. Heavy rainfall has been affecting most States in Sudan since late July, causing the Blue Nile River to overflow and triggering floods and flash floods, and resulting in casualties, displacement and damage (ERCC).
• Greece is facing a “natural disaster of unprecedented proportions,” as 586 wildfires burn in “all corners” of the country, according to Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (CNN).

Health

• South Asia. The latest wave of coronavirus infections in several South Asian nations has been complicated by a surge in dengue, a mosquito-transmitted virus that spreads during monsoon season (NYT).
• Guinea. A patient with the rare, but highly infectious Marburg virus disease has died in Guinea, according to a World Health Organization (WHO) statement on Monday. It’s the first case of the Ebola-like virus in West Africa (CNN). Guinea has ordered 155 people into quarantine after confirming West Africa’s first known case of the Marburg virus (WaPo).
• Nigeria reported four confirmed cases of monkeypox in July, a 33 percent decrease compared to June. A total of 17 suspected cases were reported and no fatalities. Nigeria has been experiencing the largest monkeypox outbreak in the country’s history (ONT).

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.

As notable cases:

• Travel Pass. Several airlines over the past few months have made headlines with the launch of the IATA Travel Pass, a step for a gradual uniform revival of air travel. The trial for the pass is open to all airlines. At present more than 45 airlines globally have incorporated this program as an initiative and expect to expand its use shortly (AirwaysMag).
• European Union. This week, the European Union is expected to review the list of epidemiologically safe countries and reportedly plans to remove the US from it. COVID-19 infection trend in the US has been increasing dramatically, meaning that the US has surpassed the limit of less than 75 Coronavirus infection cases per 100,000 inhabitants during the last 14 days (Schengenvisainfo).

Global cases and deaths. As of 10 August, Johns Hopkins University counts 203,662,139 COVID-19 cases and 4,469,497 deaths, and the WHO COVID-19 dashboard reports as of 09 August 202,608,306 cases and 4,293,591 deaths.

As notable cases:

• Mexico is experiencing another wave of the virus, with six states and the capital entering a “red” alert level on Monday — the highest on the country’s virus traffic light warning system (NYT).
• East Timor has recorded its first case of community transmission of the Delta variant, raising concerns by its health ministry about a possible spike (Reuters).
• Germany will stop offering free coronavirus tests from Oct. 11 in a bid to encourage more people to get vaccinated amid concerns about a rise in new cases, sources close to talks with the federal states said on Tuesday (Reuters).
• United Kingdom. Britain reported 146 new deaths within 28 days of a positive COVID-19 test on Tuesday, the highest daily total since March 12, as the impact of last month’s surge in cases fed through into fatalities, government data showed (Reuters).
• Zimbabwe. Pressure on undertakers leads to widespread delays in burials after record number of coronavirus infections and deaths last month (Guardian)

Vaccination campaigns around the world continue. As of 09 August, Our World in Data reports 30.2% of the world population has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and 15.6% is fully vaccinated. 4.48 billion doses have been administered globally, and 36.36 million are now administered each day. Only 1.1% of people in low-income countries have received at least one dose. The WHO COVID-19 dashboard reports as of 09 August over 4.03 billion administered vaccine doses.

As notable cases:

• Israeli study finds that a COVID booster shot is highly effective among the immunocompromised (Times of Israel).
• Philippines. Thousands of people flocked to inoculation sites in Manila, the Philippine capital, on Tuesday as reports emerged that unvaccinated people would miss out on welfare payments from the government (NYT).
• Canada. Moderna plans to build a facility in Canada to manufacture mRNA vaccines for the coronavirus and other respiratory viruses, the company announced on Tuesday (NYT).
• Mexico. Senior U.S. and Mexican officials will meet on Tuesday to discuss plans to reopen their shared border, and Washington has agreed to send Mexico up to 8.5 million more coronavirus vaccine doses, Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said (Reuters).
• Bangladesh began vaccinating thousands of Rohingya Muslims on Tuesday in the world’s largest refugee settlement amid a surge in COVID-19 infections in the country, officials said (Reuters).
• South Korea gave vaccine developer SK Bioscience (302440.KS) the green light on Tuesday for a Phase III study of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate at a time of vaccine shortages, when a spurt in infections is fuelling demand (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.