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

• Democratic Republic of Congo. Tens of thousands of displaced people have gathered for safety on a remote hilltop in Ituri province in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. They are seeking refuge from the persistent, violent attacks that have ravaged the region for decades (BBC).
• Black Sea. There are confirmed reports of an undetermined number of drifting mines in the western Black Sea, at least four of which Turkish and Romanian authorities have intercepted.  Drifting mines pose a hazard to commercial and passenger vessels (NATO).
• Kosovo. Kosovo police said two of its patrol cars came under fire early on Friday in the country’s north near its border with Serbia, where ethnic tensions are still simmering more than two decades since a war between ethnic Albanians and Serb forces ended (Yahoo).
• Jerusalem. At least 152 Palestinians were injured in clashes with Israeli riot police inside Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque compound on Friday, the latest outbreak in a recent upsurge of violence that has raised fears of a slide back to wider conflict (Reuters).
• Sri Lanka. Cash-strapped Sri Lanka imposed fuel rationing on Friday in another worsening of the economic crisis that has sparked widespread demonstrations calling for President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s resignation (AFP on MSN).
• El Salvador. President Nayib Bukele has responded to the surge in gang killings with mass arrests in poor neighborhoods like San Jose El Pino (AP).
• Mexico. Following the disappearance of more than 20 women in Nuevo León during the past month, Governor Samuel García announced Thursday the implementation of a protocol to expedite searches for missing women and girls (MND).
• Afghanistan. Officials in Afghanistan said cross-border strikes by Pakistan’s military killed at least forty-five people on Saturday, some of whom were civilians. While Pakistan did not confirm it carried out the strikes, its military said its forces have suffered a dramatic increase in attacks by militants in Afghanistan (NYT).

Natural Disasters

• South Africa. Rescue operations are continuing in South Africa in an effort to save the lives of dozens of people who are missing following the floods in KwaZulu-Natal province.  With more rain on its way, emergency teams face further peril as they search for survivors (BBC).

Health

• United Kingdom and United States. Public health officials in the United States and the United Kingdom are investigating a number of unusual cases of serious hepatitis in young children, the cause or causes of which are currently unknown. Evidence from the U.K. and from Alabama — where nine cases have been recorded since last fall — points to the possible involvement of an adenovirus. Adenoviruses generally attack the respiratory tract, causing cold-like illnesses. But they have been linked to bladder inflammation and infection, and occasionally to hepatitis, though rarely in children who are not immunocompromised (STAT News).
• Somalia. Drought and increasing food prices are putting millions of people in Somalia at risk of famine, several United Nations agencies have warned, and the country is not receiving the amount of aid it needs to address the crisis (All Africa).

Other

• Poland-Belarus. A huge queue of trucks has formed on the Poland-Belarus border as Russian and Belarusian drivers try to leave the EU following a sanctions deadline.
• China. Two of China’s prominent technology executives have spoken out about the widespread supply chain disruptions caused by the lockdown in Shanghai, warning that many of the country’s industries are facing the prospect of production halts in May if the situation persists (Forbes).

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.

• Global cases and deaths can be found in the Johns Hopkins University website and the WHO COVID-19 dashboard.
• Vaccination campaigns around the world continue. Find the latest numbers on vaccinations rates at Our World in Data website and the WHO COVID-19 dashboard.

Of note:

• United States. On Wednesday, health officials in New York said that two new omicron variants are spreading rapidly in the state. The variants appear to be causing a small surge in cases in central New York state, the department of health said. Known as BA.2.12 and BA.2.12.1, the variants are closely related to the BA.2 variant – a version of omicron that has caused surges across Europe and is now dominant across the U.S. Together the two new variants now comprise 90% of cases in central New York (NPR). The US CDC on April 13 extended the travel mask mandate for public transportation through May 3 (NYT) in order to assess a recent uptick in COVID-19 cases driven by the Omicron BA.2 subvariant (AP).
• China. Shanghai has set a target to stop the spread of COVID-19 outside of quarantined areas by Wednesday, two people familiar with the matter said, which would allow the city to further ease its lockdown and start returning to normal life as public frustrations grow  (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.

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