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

• Central African Republic. n the Central African Republic, 57% of the population (2.8 million out of 4.9 million) needs humanitarian assistance. The conflict that has been ongoing since December 2020 has led to substantial violence and criminality, triggering new waves of displacement. This has brought the overall number of Central African IDPs and refugees to nearly 1.4  million  – more than a quarter of the country’s total population (ERCC).
• Ethiopia. An air and ground offensive by Ethiopian troops and their allies against rebellious forces from the northern Tigray region is intensifying, a spokesperson for the Tigrayan forces said on Wednesday, claiming “staggering” casualties (Reuters).
• Turkey. Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Wednesday Turkey would “do what is necessary for its security” after what it said was a rise in cross-border attacks by Syrian Kurdish YPG militia (Reuters).
• China-India. Indian and Chinese army commanders have discussed steps to disengage troops from key friction areas along their disputed border to ease a 17-month standoff that has sometimes led to deadly clashes, an Indian army spokesman said (AP).
• Italy. An extreme-right political party’s violent exploitation of anger over Italy’s coronavirus restrictions is forcing authorities to wrestle with the country’s fascist legacy and fueling fears there could be a replay of last week’s mobs trying to force their way toward Parliament (AP).

Natural Disasters

• Philippines. After passage of Tropical Cyclone KOMPASU over northern Luzon and the Babuyan Islands (northern Philippines), the ASEAN Disaster Information Network (ADINet) reports, as of 13 October, 13 fatalities, nine missing, three injured and over 11,500 evacuated people across nearly 100 evacuation centres (ERCC).
• Hong Kong suspended classes, stock market trading and government services as typhoon KOMPASU passed south of the city Wednesday (AP).
• Mexico. Authorities in Sinaloa State have started to make preparedness measures for the passage of Tropical Cyclone PAMELA, opening 128 temporary shelters with the capacity to accomodate up to 64,000 people. A Hurricane warning has been issued for coastal areas in Sinaloa. Over the next 24 hours, very heavy rain and strong winds is forecast for north- and central-western Mexico (ERCC).
• Colombia. From 15 September until 11 October, heavy rain, strong winds and hail have been affecting 22 Departments of Colombia, leading to casualties, displacement, and damage (ERCC).
• Canary Islands. Over 700 residents were ordered to abandon their homes on Tuesday on the Spanish island of La Palma as red-hot lava advanced towards their neighbourhood (Reuters).

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:

• The United States will lift restrictions at its land borders with Canada and Mexico for fully vaccinated foreign nationals in early November, ending historic curbs on non-essential travelers in place since March 2020 to address the COVID-19 pandemic (Reuters).
• South Korea established a panel on Wednesday to debate a strategy on how to “live with COVID-19” in the long-term, as the country seeks to phase out coronavirus restrictions and reopen the economy amid rising vaccination levels (Reuters).
• Europe. Around 1.4 billion travellers from more than 60 world countries, who are currently permitted to travel visa-free to the 26 Schengen Area countries in Europe, will soon be subject to the obligation to apply for a travel authorisation before reaching any of these countries. The requirement, which will become fully effective by the end of 2022 and will see travellers like Americans, Britons, Montenegrins, Georgians and more, applying for an ETIAS (Schengenvisainfo).

Global cases and deaths. As of 13 October, Johns Hopkins University counts 238,853,205 COVID-19 cases and 4,868,661 deaths, and the WHO COVID-19 dashboard reports as of 13 October 238,229,951 cases and 4,859,277 deaths.

As notable cases:

• Russia on Wednesday reported another record of daily coronavirus deaths amid a slow vaccination rate and authorities’ reluctance to tighten restrictions (AP).

Vaccination campaigns around the world continue. As of 12 October, Our World in Data reports 47.7% of the world population has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. 6.56 billion doses have been administered globally, and 21.65 million are now administered each day. Only 2.5% of people in low-income countries have received at least one dose. The WHO COVID-19 dashboard reports as of 10 October over 6.36 billion administered vaccine doses.

As notable cases:

• World. The World Health Organization (WHO) vaccine advisers met last week to discuss and weigh in on several vaccine issues, including a recommendation that people who are moderately or severely immunocompromised receive a third COVID-19 vaccine dose (CIDRAP).

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.