COVID-19 travel bans target African countries

COVID-19 travel bans target African countries

Two months ago, South African researchers discovered the new COVID-19 variant now named Omicron. While their prompt report garnered accolades from the World Health Organization, many countries in the West, such as the U.K., U.S. and Canada, readily enacted travel bans against South Africa and other African nations. The justification behind the travel bans was to reduce the spread of the Omicron variant. However, according to the WHO, “Implementing blanket travel bans, which are not effective in suppressing international spread, as clearly demonstrated by the Omicron experience, … may discourage transparent and rapid reporting of emerging [variants of concern].”

Russia threatens Ukraine with increased military presence at border

Russia threatens Ukraine with increased military presence at border

In December 2021, Russian President Vladimir Putin increased the presence of Russian troops on the Russia-Ukraine border. The New York Times reported that this maneuver was accompanied by demands that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization should violate its standing open-door policy, which permits any country to apply for membership, and bar Ukraine from ever applying for membership. In the same article, the Times reported that Putin also “wanted NATO allies to pull all troops and nuclear weapons from former Soviet republics and nations that once belonged to the Warsaw Pact.”

BTS wins three awards at 2021 American Music Awards

BTS wins three awards at 2021 American Music Awards

Korean boy band BTS took home three awards at the American Music Awards, held at Los Angeles’s Microsoft Theater, on Nov. 21, 2021. The group won the coveted title of “Artist of the Year,” making them the first Asian artists in history to do so.

14 year old dies during childbirth; UN condemns child marriages in Zimbabwe

“What you see today, a young girl forced to marry, get pregnant and [die], is not an aberration. It is part of the same continuum. Female persons are not seen as fully human, with individual rights, choice, rights to control our own bodies,” Zimbabwean feminist activist and the international head of Action Aid International, Everjoice Win, declared on Twitter on Aug. 6 in response to the widespread practice of child marriages in Zimbabwe.

International students respond to new winter housing policy

Although domestic travel in the United States is getting safer and easier as vaccination rates increase and more airlines reopen, international travel is still widely restricted by vaccination, visa, testing and quarantine policies.

Global COVID-19 Counter: US and UK have highest positivity rates; vaccination rate rises around globe

By Sophie Soloway ’23

Global Editor


As of Oct. 26, 2021, there have been 244,342,963 total COVID-19 cases across the world, as reported by the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. This has resulted in 4,960,582 COVID-19 related deaths. 6,848,740,981 vaccine doses have been administered worldwide. 

The United States leads these total positive cases with a reported 45,572,94945,450,123. The U.S. also has the highest number of recorded fatalities of all reporting countries. 

Johns Hopkins reports that the United Kingdom holds the second-highest rate of positive COVID-19 testing within the previous 28-day cycle, with 1,113,163 positive tests reported. Turkey follows the United Kingdom, with 812,780 positive cases reported within the same period. Turkey has a total of 7,879,438 cases and 69,344 total fatalities. 

CNN has an ongoing tracker on their website, which ranks nations based on their number of positive COVID-19 cases. Russia currently sits at the fifth position on that list. According to The Moscow Times, Russia has recently seen a distinct increase in positive COVID-19 cases. The country reached its record number of cases on Oct. 25, with 37,930 new cases and 1,069 deaths.  

Restrictions on outings and vaccination mandates have been imposed regionally, rather than nationally, with Russian President Vladimir Putin again advising local governments to impose legislation on Oct. 25th. 

Amid these record-setting transmission rates, The New York Times reported that 5049.9 percent of the global population has received at least one dose of the vaccine. The United Arab Emirates leads this statistic, with 98 percent of its eligible population having already received their first vaccination dose. As eligible adult vaccination rates rise, researchers across countries continue to investigate solutions for child vaccination.  

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