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

• South Sudan. Internet services in South Sudan were disrupted on Monday and security forces patrolled the streets after activists called for protests against President Salva Kiir’s government (Reuters).
• Afghanistan. The situation remains uncertain and may evolve rapidly. The   upsurge of violence across the country and the fall of the elected Government may have a serious impact on civilians and cause further displacement. Some 80 percent of these newly  displaced are women and children. UNHCR estimates that the number of displaced will rise, both internally and across borders. Separate to the internal displacement mentioned  above, a potential worst-case scenario envisages over 515,000 newly displaced refugees fleeing across the borders (UNHCR). France, Britain and Germany are working on a United Nations proposal aimed at establishing a safe zone in Kabul to allow safe passage for people trying to leave Afghanistan, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday (Reuters). NATO allies are struggling to ensure that Afghanistan’s main gateway, Kabul airport, remains open for urgently needed humanitarian aid flights next week when they end their evacuation airlifts and turn it over to the Taliban (Reuters). Repairs need to be made at Kabul airport before it can be opened to civilian flights, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Sunday, as Ankara considers providing help to the Taliban to operate the airport (Reuters).
• Ethiopia. A military confrontation that started 10 months ago in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region is spreading, with serious political, economic and humanitarian implications for the country and the broader region, the Secretary-General warned the Security Council on Thursday (UN News).
• Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso. Attacks by jihadist groups are increasing in the countries of the Sahel, especially in the so-called triangle between Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso (All Africa)

Natural Disasters

• United States. Hurricane Ida made landfall on Sunday as a Category 4 storm near Port Fourchon, Louisiana (Reuters) Significant flooding caused by heavy rain, strong winds and storm surge were reported across southern Louisiana. Media report infrastructure damage and power outages for more than 800,000 people (ERCC). Ida lost some of its punch over southwestern Mississippi on Monday after making landfall in Louisiana as one of the most powerful hurricanes to hit the region, but it could still trigger heavy flooding, the National Hurricane Center said (Reuters).
• Mexico. Hurricane Nora made landfall on Saturday evening on the northwest coast of the Mexican state of Jalisco (Reuters). Heavy rain, strong winds and storm surge were reported across Michoacan, Colima and Jalisco States, triggering floods and landslides (ERCC).
• Nepal. Since 20 August, heavy rain has been affecting various parts of Nepal, causing floods and landslides and resulting in casualties (ERCC).
• Indonesia. Widespread floodings and landslides continue to affect Sulawesi and Kalimantan (central Indonesia) over the past few days, resulting in casualties and damage (ERCC).

Health

• European Union. Between 20 and 26 August 2021, European Union (EU) and European Economic Area (EEA) countries reported 15 human cases of West Nile virus (WNV) infection and one death related to WNV infections. Cases were reported by Greece (11), Hungary (2) and Romania (2). The death was reported by Greece. EU-neighbouring countries reported three human cases of WNV infection in Serbia and no deaths related to WNV infections (ECDC).
• Brazil, India, Guatemala, Malaysia, Peru.  In 2021, 117633 Chikungunya cases have been reported, the majority from Brazil (87595), India (25166), Guatemala (1091), Malaysia (885) and Belize (737). Since the previous CDTR published on week 30, 32329 new cases have been reported, the majority from Brazil (19265), India (11771), Guatemala (1032), Malaysia (161) and Peru (34) (ECDC).
• Brazil, India, Nicaragua, Vietnam, Bangladesh. In 2021, 1 075 834 Dengue cases have been reported, the majority from Brazil (752 284), Vietnam (43 028), Peru (35 728), Philippines (32 555) and Réunion (29 333). Since the previous CDTR published on week 30, 124 413 new cases have been reported, the majority from Brazil (80 552), India (7207), Nicaragua (5702), Vietnam (5 608), and Bangladesh (5535) (ECDC).
• Nigeria, Niger, India, Bangladesh. Since the last update on 23 July 2021, new cholera cases have been reported worldwide. Countries reporting the majority of new cases since the previous update are Nigeria, Niger, India and Bangladesh (ECDC).

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:

• Australia has used relentless lockdowns to control COVID-19, its COVID-19 deaths exceed 1,000, and now faces perhaps its biggest health policy challenge of the pandemic – how to reopen (Reuters).
• Germany. Police tussled with protesters as thousands of people marched through Berlin on Saturday chanting slogans and waving banners against COVID-19 restrictions (Reuters).
• Saudi Arabia. Around 6 million students returned to classes in the kingdom this week for the first time since the start of the pandemic after data suggested infections were stabilising and fatalities falling (Reuters).
• The United Arab Emirates said it will resume issuing tourist visas to vaccinated travellers from Aug. 30 (Reuters).
• The European Union. Two officials within the European Union institutions have confirmed for Reuters that the EU Council will on Monday announce its decision to remove from the list of epidemiologically safe third countries a total of six countries, including the United States (Schengenvisainfo).
• France. Over 1.8m French workers in service jobs in restaurants, cinemas, libraries as well as long-distance rail staff must from today show a health pass to go to work (Guardian).
• New Zealand. Auckland is facing two more weeks of lockdown after the government judged there was still too much Delta circulating in the community (Guardian).

Global cases and deaths. As of 30 August, Johns Hopkins University counts 216,603,365 COVID-19 cases and 4,504,692 deaths, and the WHO COVID-19 dashboard reports as of 30 August 216,229,741 cases and 4,496,681 deaths.

As notable cases:

• China reported 23 confirmed coronavirus cases in the mainland for Aug. 29, down from 33 a day earlier, according to the National Health Commission on Monday (Reuters).
• India reported 42,909 new COVID-19 cases for the past 24 hours, a government statement said on Monday (Reuters)
• The Philippines has reported a record 22,366 new Covid cases in one day (Guardian).
• Europe. Senior officials at the World Health Organisation fear there could be 236,000 more Covid deaths in Europe between now and 1 December on account of stagnating vaccination rates and low uptake in poorer countries (Guardian).
• Australia. An Aboriginal man in the New South Wales town of Dubbo has become the first Indigenous victim of Covid in Australia (Guardian).
• New Zealand. There are 82 new community cases of Covid-19 and an expert modeller is predicting a tough week ahead for the country (NZHerald).
• World. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, the need to understand and respond to long COVID is increasingly pressing. Symptoms such as persistent fatigue, breathlessness, brain fog, and depression could debilitate many millions of people globally. Yet very little is known about the condition. The effect on society, from the increased health-care burden and economic and productivity losses, is substantial. Long COVID is a modern medical challenge of the first order (The Lancet). Roughly half of 1,276 adult COVID-19 survivors in Wuhan, China, still had at least one symptom—with a third still reporting shortness of breath—a year after their release from the hospital, finds a single-center study yesterday in The Lancet (CIDRAP).

Vaccination campaigns around the world continue. As of 29 August, Our World in Data reports 39.7% of the world population has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. 5.24 billion doses have been administered globally, and 38.46 million are now administered each day. Only 1.6% of people in low-income countries have received at least one dose. The WHO COVID-19 dashboard reports as of 25 August over 4.95 billion administered vaccine doses.

As notable cases:

• Germany will make up to 70 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine available to African countries this year, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Friday, more than doubling a previous pledge to donate 30 million (Reuters).
• Sudan has received a shipment of 218,400 doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine as a donation from France, the health ministry and UNICEF said (Reuters).
• India‘s rising output of COVID-19 vaccines and the inoculation of more than half its adult population with at least one dose are raising hopes the country will return as an exporter within months, ramping up from early next year (Reuters).
• Israel on Sunday began offering a COVID-19 booster to children as young as 12, and its prime minister said a campaign that began a month ago among seniors has slowed a rise in severe illness caused by the Delta variant (Reuters).

Studies

• South Africa. A new coronavirus variant, C.1.2, has been detected in South Africa and a number of other countries. A new preprint study, awaiting peer review, by South Africa’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases and the KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform indicates concerns that it could be more infectious and evade vaccines (JPost).

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.