COVID-19 Outbreak: Weekly Global Report for Friday, August 20, 2021
AdvaMed recognizes that its members, particularly those with global government affairs responsibilities, are tracking COVID-19 related developments around the world to assess the public health and economic impacts on their businesses. Knowing that companies are consuming information from a variety of sources, AdvaMed's global team would like to provide members with a weekly snapshot of the key statistics, policy developments and advocacy initiatives underway in our priority markets. If you have any suggestions, we welcome your feedback.
Global
- Weekly COVID-19 statistics: global cases reached a new milestone of 210 million cases. Deaths around the world have exceeded 4.33 million. The countries with the most reported cases continue to be the U.S. (36.2 million), India (32.3 million) and Brazil (20.5 million). Indonesia has emerged as a new global hotspot, with over 1 million new cases reported in the past month.
- U.S. cases exceeded 37.2 million with deaths increasing to 624,500.
- Staff Contact: Ralph Ives (rives@advamed.org).
China
- The latest: The highly transmissible Delta variant has posed the most severe test of Beijing’s “zero tolerance” policy to date. Confronted with its largest COVID outbreak since the initial outbreak in Wuhan beginning last month, Beijing credits the sharp decline in case counts this week to its “strict, scientific, and swift measures.” All travel into Beijing from hotspots remains cut off. Mass testing is still underway in a few Chinese cities. The world’s third largest container port, in Ningbo, remains partially shut down after a single COVID case was reported there last week. Some observers outside and inside China worry that this “zero tolerance” policy approach could have economic downsides. Economic data for July shows a modest economic slowdown in comparison to expectations.
- Overview of China’s containment strategy: Despite a massively efficient vaccine roll-out since May, the Chinese government has given no indication it intends to change its current COVID playbook of closed borders, strict quarantine for foreign arrivals, and aggressive lockdowns and mass testing when flareups arise. Beijing remains ever cautious as the Delta variant circulates worldwide and the efficacy of China’s vaccines is questioned. Many businesses expect that China may retain stringent travel restrictions through February 2022, when Beijing will host the Winter Olympics.
- Ningbo port remains partially shut: Last week, China partly halted all inbound and outbound container services at Meishan terminal in Ningbo-Zhoushan port, the world’s third-busiest container port, after a worker became infected with COVID, threatening to further disrupt global trade. As the Ningbo port remains partially shut, several Chinese ports are facing congestion as a result as vessels due to call at Ningbo are being diverted and cargo processing is slowed partly due to stricter disinfection measures under China's "zero-tolerance" coronavirus policy. This Tuesday, more than 50 container vessels were queuing at Ningbo port, China's second largest marine center, Refinitiv data showed, up from 28 on Aug. 10 when a COVID-19 case was reported at one of its terminals. Leading international shipping groups have warned their clients of delays and route adjustments.
- Chinese airports toughen up quarantine rules: Airports around China are lengthening the amount of time some international aircrews and ground staff must spend in quarantine, after containment breaches sparked community spread of the highly infectious delta variant in several regions. Some regional regimes will see airport workers judged to be a higher risk isolated for up to 28 days after two weeks of work. These represent far tougher restrictions than those currently mandated by the country’s national aviation authority.
- Status of vaccination campaign: Over one billion Chinese citizens have received at least one COVID vaccine dose to date, accounting for one-third of total global vaccinations. China’s CDC has revised upwards its threshold to reach herd immunity from 70% to 80-85%. Several local governments in China are planning to bar residents who haven’t been vaccinated against COVID-19 from accessing public venues, stirring controversy as the country makes a push for herd immunity.
- Debate within China on making vaccines mandatory: As countries weigh up making COVID-19 vaccination mandatory in certain circumstances, heated debate has erupted in China over orders issued by some cities to deny the unvaccinated entry to places such as shops and schools. Some say such hardline measures will persuade hesitant people to sign up for the shots, but more have argued that it is discriminatory and amounts to mismanagement by local governments. Public health experts have said such restrictions should be imposed with caution, or they could reduce public confidence in pandemic control measures. On Friday the National Health Commission finally weighed in to assure the public that Covid-19 vaccinations were still “consensual and voluntary”. It said it had noted restrictions in some areas and responded with “timely guidance and supervision”. The NHC’s statement came after some cities in 10 provinces announced various restrictions on unvaccinated people on entering public places, from hospitals to nursing homes and markets.
- Weekly COVID-19 statistics: China’s total COVID cases now stand at 106,657, an increase of 408 cases over the previous week. The number of reported deaths remained unchanged over the previous week, at 4,848.
- China’s vaccines and approval date: Sinopharm (approved Dec. 31, 2020); Sinovac’s CoronaVac (approved on Feb. 5); CanSino Biologics and a second Sinopharm vaccine (both approved in April). Three other vaccines have been approved in May and June.
- Post-COVID healthcare system upgrade: China will provide funding to build new institutions and infrastructure to fight infectious diseases and improve healthcare, the state planning body said in a "five-year plan" for the sector. The central government will subsidize the construction of new "prevention bases" for infectious disease and new grassroots medical facilities across the country, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said in the plan, published this Thursday. It said China was facing difficult healthcare challenges, including new emerging infectious diseases, the increasingly heavy burden of chronic illnesses as well as the growing need for mental health services. "The public health system is in urgent need of improvement, and the ability to prevent, control and treat major epidemics is not strong," it warned. High-quality medical resources are also insufficient and not evenly distributed, and there are also gaps when it comes to treating women and children, it added.
- BioNTech vaccine: Chinese regulators completed an expert review of a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine developed by Germany's BioNTech and Fosun Pharma and the shot is now in the administration review stage, Caixin reported. China hasn't approved any COVID-19 vaccine developed overseas but has greenlighted several domestic brands. Chinese authorities plan to use the vaccine, which goes by the brand name Comirnaty, as a booster shot for people who have received inactivated-virus vaccines, people close to regulators told Caixin. Most people in China have received inactivated-virus vaccines made by Sinovac and state-owned Sinopharm Group that have demonstrated lower efficacy than mRNA vaccines.
- China’s own mRNA vaccine: China’s first messenger RNA (mRNA) COVID-19 vaccine, is expected to start phase three tests in many overseas countries soon, the chief executive officer of Suzhou Abogen Biosciences, the vaccine’s developer, said this week. Together with Chinese clinical contract research organization Tigermed, Abogen is preparing to conduct overseas Phase III clinical trials using 28,000 volunteers in countries including Mexico, Columbia and Pakistan. The vaccine can be stored at temperatures of between two and eight degrees centigrade for at least seven months, making it convenient for mass distribution. The clinical trials will not select specific variants, and will also not reject any strains, Ying told Yicai Global. The Suzhou, eastern Jiangsu province-based firm is also developing a separate mRNA vaccine candidate that will target the variants that were first found in South Africa and India.
- Vaccine diplomacy: CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping pledged to provide two billion doses of COVD-19 vaccines to the world by the end of this year. Xi also declared that the COVAX global vaccine distribution initiative would receive a donation from China of $100mln. China has already supplied over 770 million vaccine doses to other countries, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
- Dispute over COVID-19’s origins: In a rare departure from his usual deference to powerful member countries, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that getting access to raw data had been a challenge for the international team that traveled to China earlier this year to investigate the source of COVID-19. Tedros also said there had been a “premature push” to rule out the theory that the virus might have escaped from a Chinese government lab in Wuhan - undermining WHO’s own March report, which concluded that a laboratory leak was “extremely unlikely.”
- China’s response to Tedros’s remarks: While China has consistently rejected the lab leak hypothesis, officials sought to draw a line in the sand. signaling Beijing won’t engage on the origin hunt if the theory remained in play. It was China’s most direct pushback to date on calls from the WHO and others to investigate the Wuhan Institute of Virology’s high-level lab, which studied bat-borne pathogens and other coronaviruses. “The plan on the second phase of the origin study, it contains language that does not respect science or common sense,” said Zeng Yixin, vice minister of the National Health Commission. “We won’t follow such a plan.”
- As China continues to push its own lab-leak theory: The South China Morning Post reports that Beijing, in seeking to counter the hypothesis that the virus may have escaped from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, is pushing its own hypothesis that the virus originated from Fort Detrick, about an hour’s drive from Washington and the original home of the US biological weapons program. While most Americans may be unfamiliar with Fort Detrick, hundreds of millions of Chinese netizens are familiar with the Detrick name and its supposed links to COVID-19, mostly thanks to China’s so-called Wolf Warrior diplomats. They have said dozens of times in social media posts and press conferences that Fort Detrick, half a world away from China in the state of Maryland, needs to be investigated as a potential source of the virus.
- China’s economy facing headwinds: China's factory output and retail sales growth slowed sharply and missed expectations in July, as new COVID-19 outbreaks and floods disrupted business operations, adding to signs the economic recovery is losing momentum. Industrial production in the world's second largest economy increased 6.4% year-on-year in July, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Monday. Analysts had expected output to rise 7.8% after growing 8.3% in June. Retail sales increased 8.5% in July from a year ago, far lower than the forecast 11.5% rise and June's 12.1% uptick. China's economy has rebounded to its pre-pandemic growth levels, but the expansion is losing steam as businesses grapple with higher costs and supply bottlenecks. New COVID-19 infections in July also led to fresh restrictions, disrupting the country's factory output already hit by severe weather this summer. Data earlier this month also showed export growth, which has been a key driver of China's impressive rebound from the COVID-19 slump in early 2020, unexpectedly slowed in July.
- US will limit some Chinese passenger air carriers to 40% capacity: The US Transportation Department on Wednesday said it will limit some flights from Chinese carriers to 40% passenger capacity for four weeks after China imposed similar limits on four United Airlines flights. China told United on August 6 it was imposing sanctions after it alleged five passengers who traveled from San Francisco to Shanghai tested positive for COVID-19 on July 21. The US order said the department will limit over a four-week period each of four Chinese carriers to 40% capacity on a single China-US flight. United Airlines said it was "pleased to see this action by the (Transportation Department) in pursuit of fairness in this important market." The US government says China's "circuit breaker" policy violates the nations' air services agreement and "places undue culpability on carriers with respect to travelers that test positive for COVID-19 after their arrival in China." The limits come as many Chinese students are headed to the US for the start of fall classes.
- S.-China relations: China's new ambassador to Washington, Qin Gang, arrived last month, wishing the United States victory against COVID-19 and saying great potential awaited bilateral relations. Qin's arrival comes days after high-level talks in the Chinese city of Tianjin between U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and senior Chinese diplomats ended with both sides signaling that the other must make concessions for ties to improve. Qin, aged 55, is a former vice foreign minister whose recent past portfolios have included European affairs and protocol. He replaces China's longest-serving ambassador to the United States, Cui Tiankai, 68, who last month announced his departure after eight years in Washington.
- Staff Contact: Kyle Churchman (kchurchman@advamed.org)
India
- Weekly COVID-19 statistics – 32,249,900 total cases, 364,129 active cases/433,049 deaths/ discharged 31,525,080 (John Hopkins & MoHFW) as compared to 32,076,974 total cases, 387,987 active cases/429,669 deaths/ discharged 31,260,050 (John Hopkins & MoHFW) last week. 56,64,88,433 people have been vaccinated.
- After breaching the value of 1 in the first week of August, the R number, which reflects how rapidly the coronavirus pandemic is spreading, has been steadily ebbing, according to researchers at the Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai. “India's R has fallen to around 0.9,” Sitbara Sinha, who is leading the research, said, citing their data. If R is lesser than 1, it means the number of newly infected people is lower than the number of infected people in the preceding period and the disease incidence is going down.
- Vaccines for children may be available by September and the trials for inoculating those between 2 to 18 years are underway, Priya Abraham, director of the National Institute of Virology has said. In an interview to India Science, an OTT platform of the Department of Science and Technology, Abraham said phase 2/3 clinical trials are in process for those between 2 to 18 years of age.
- Bharat Biotech is working on a combination of Covaxin followed by nasal vaccine which if administered can act as a booster dose and protect a person from getting infected, according to its chairman and managing director Dr Krishna Ella. The company expects significant data on the combination in the next two months which can then drive the future course of action based on regulatory approvals and policy decision regarding booster shots.
- After getting the final nod from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for the second and third phase trials of the nasal Covaxin, Bharat Biotech Ltd will launch nationwide trials with Nagpur being one of the sites. The government medical college and hospital (GMCH) is likely to host the trials, said sources. The GMCH is yet to receive the formal confirmation, but it fulfils the necessary criteria.
- India’s immunization plan against Covid-19 may get bolstered soon with the rollout of locally manufactured single-dose Sputnik Light in September. Panacea Biotec, which had earlier partnered Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), has submitted the dossier for seeking emergency-use authorization to India’s drug regulator recently.
- Central Govt allocated ₹267.35 crore to Kerala under emergency COVID response package- II; Additional ₹1 crore will be made available to each district of Kerala for creating medicine pool, it was informed in a series of tweet by Mansukh Mandaviya , Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare.
- The Centre will provide a financial package of Rs 1,300 crore to the Northeastern states to fight the Covid-19 pandemic, Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya announced on Tuesday, August 17- Reviewing the Covid-19 situation with health ministers of all the Northeastern states in Guwahati, Mandaviya said the fund is being provided to purchase medicines, enhance oxygen supply, increase beds - general, ICU and children - at local and district-level hospitals.
- The magnitude of the Covid-19 third wave will depend on adherence to appropriate behaviour, the extent of vaccination and aggressive surveillance, said Dr Randeep Guleria, noted pulmonologist and AIIMS Delhi director.
- In order to tackle and be prepared for the third wave of the pandemic, the export of COVID-19 rapid antigen testing kits has been put under restricted category with immediate effect, said Directorate General of Foreign Trade said in a notification, recently. The move would help in dealing with the COVID-19 crisis as these kits are required for testing of patients.
- Rapid PCR test facility is now available for passengers at Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport, which will be able to give results within 45-60 minutes. While the RT-PCR test facility is already operational at the Delhi airport, it normally takes 3-4 hours for passengers to receive the results. The new rapid machines aim to reduce the waiting time considerably, officials said.
- A study conducted by a leading private hospital in Delhi suggests that a single vaccine dose does not offer significant protection against symptomatic or severe Covid-19 infections,. The study is based on Covid infections among healthcare workers at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital from March 1 to May 31 this year, during the deadly second wave.
- As coronavirus cases decline in the national capital, hospitals in Delhi-NCR are seeing patients returning to them for elective surgeries with some of them saying the current situation is almost similar to the pre-Covid time. However, the medical facilities said patients put forth special demands like less hospital visits and single room stay as they are still fearful of contracting Covid.
- The Union tourism ministry is now pushing states and Union Territories (UTs) to do away with the mandatory RT-PCR tests for fully vaccinated people who opt for inter-state travel and show their final vaccination certificates upon arrival. “The ministry on Wednesday, August 11 sent a written communication to state secretaries, urging the states and UTs to adopt a uniform travel protocol during the Covid-19 pandemic,” Rupinder Brar, additional director general, ministry of tourism informed.
- Staff Contact: Abby Pratt (apratt@advamed.org).
Japan
- Weekly COVID-19 statistics – 1,232,459 reported cases and 15,555 total deaths compared to 1,090,260 reported cases and 15,372 reported deaths the previous week.
- Japan continues to set daily records for new COVID cases. The country had its highest daily total ever on August 19, reaching over 25,000 cases compared to fewer than 2,000 cases daily in early July. The number of serious cases continues to rise as well.
- The Japanese government extended the COVID-19 state of emergency covering Tokyo and five other areas to September 12, while expanding the measure to seven more prefectures.
- Japan’s Prime Minister indicated that only patients with severe cases of COVID-19 can be admitted to hospitals, based on concerns about growing hospital bed shortages.
- Japan had been making good progress ramping up its vaccination efforts, but it now faces a shortage of vaccines. About 40% of the population is fully vaccinated. Prime Minister Suga said that his goal is to complete all vaccinations by November.
- Japan provided final approval to the Moderna vaccine and the Astra Zeneca vaccine on May 21. The Pfizer vaccine was approved in February. J&J submitted its application for approval of its vaccine on May 24. It is expected to be approved and available for use around the beginning of 2022.
- Moderna will provide 50 million doses of the vaccine by September. It is being used at mass vaccination centers in Tokyo and Osaka, as well as elsewhere. AstraZeneca has contracted to provide 120 million doses, which the government will stockpile for later use.
- The central government has asked companies to reduce the number of workers going to the office by 70% and facilitate telecommuting and staggered commuting hours.
- Prefectural governments are urging hospitals to open up more Covid-19- dedicated beds, which is putting further pressure on patients to avoid elective surgeries.
- The Japanese government continues to maintain its controls on foreign nationals entering the country. Reciprocal business travel arrangements that were forged with China, South Korea, Singapore, and Vietnam remain suspended. Tokyo’s restrictions on foreign entries except for returning nationals remain in place.
- Staff Contact: Phil Agress (PAgress@AdvaMed.org).
Korea (No Updates this week)
ASEAN
Cases
- ASEAN now has 9,044,491 reported cases and 198,463 reported deaths compared to 8,398,339 reported cases and 180,443 reported deaths last week.
- The number of new cases across the ASEAN region continues to grow significantly, but the rate of growth fell slightly from the previous week.
- Indonesia: The pace of new infections in Indonesia is moderating somewhat, with the number of new cases at less than half the level of the peak in July. Cases have declined from their July peak nationwide, but travel and work-from-home restrictions scheduled to be relaxed on August 9 have been extended to August 23 in an effort to reinforce this trend. Authorities have increased hospital capacity in Jakarta, while hotels are being converted into isolation centers. Indonesia is now reporting 3,930,300 total cases and 122,633 total deaths compared to 3,774,155 total cases and 113,664 total deaths the previous week. Indonesia accounts for 63% of total deaths in ASEAN since the start of the pandemic.
- Malaysia: Malaysia is easing some economic restrictions even as cases continue to hit new highs. Companies with 40-59% fully vaccinated workers may now operate at 60% capacity, while companies with 60-79% fully vaccinated workers may operate at 80% capacity, and companies with 80-100% fully vaccinated workers may now operate at full capacity. Fully vaccinated individuals may now quarantine at home following overseas travel, visit long-distance spouses, travel within the country to meet children under 18 years old, and visit houses of worship. Reported cases have grown from 1,342,215 to 1,489,460 over the past week. Total deaths have grown from 11,691 to 13,480 over that timeframe.
- Thailand: The number of total cases has grown 3.7-fold and total deaths grown more than 410% since early July. The country is experiencing new daily records of COVID fatalities, and beds designated for patients in critical condition at all state-run hospitals in Bangkok are now fully occupied with COVID-19 infected patients. Thailand is converting several airport terminals into field hospitals. Amid rising COVID-19 cases, the Thai government adopted 9pm–4am curfew hours and other strict measures in Bangkok and 28 other provinces. The measures, which were scheduled to last until August 18, have been extended for two additional weeks. Reported cases grew from 839,771 to 989,859 over the past week and reported deaths have increased from 6,942 to 8,586 over that time.
- Philippines: Manila is under the strictest enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) until August 20 to stem the rise in COVID-19 cases. Under ECQ, only essential sectors such as health, food production, and distribution, banks, energy, telecommunications, airlines, etc. can operate fully. The movement of all persons will be limited to accessing goods and services from and working in permitted establishments. The Philippines is now reporting 1,801,003 total cases, up from 1,700,363 total cases last week. Total reported deaths have increased from 29,539 to 30,881 over that time.
- Cambodia: The number of reported cases has grown more than 35-fold in Cambodia since April 1. Total reported cases increased from 83,384 to 87,190 over the past week. Reported deaths grew from 1,614 to 1,730 over that period.
- Vietnam: Vietnam continues to experience a massive surge in cases and deaths. It added a record number of new cases last week. Ho Chi Minh City is the new epicenter of the fourth COVID-19 wave. Vietnam announced it would extend strict curbs on movement in Ho Chi Minh City until September 15 to help combat its worst COVID-19 outbreak. Hanoi has also imposed movement restrictions and suspended non-essential businesses and services until August 23 amid the rising COVID-19 threat. Cases of COVID-19 infection grew from 241,543 to 312,611 over the past week. The total number of deaths grew from 4,287 to 7,150.
- Singapore: Based on high vaccination rates, up to 50% of Singapore’s workforce can return to in-person working. Reported cases increased from 65,953 to 66,334 over the past week. The total number of deaths increased rose from 43 to 46.
- Laos: Laos reported a growth in total cases from 9,161 to 11,029 over the past week. It has reported 9 deaths from COVID since the outset of the pandemic, including one in the past week.
Vaccinations
- Indonesia authorized the Pfizer vaccine for emergency use on July 15. It will be given to Indonesians aged 12 years and up. The country is currently in the second stage of vaccinations following the vaccination of medical workers in the first stage. It reportedly has 76 million doses of the vaccine on hand. It has been administering the Sinovac and AstraZeneca vaccines. Only 10.9% of the population is fully vaccinated.
- The government revoked its ill-received self-paid COVID-19 vaccination program, following demands that the vaccine should be free for all.
- Malaysia announced that it will stop using China’s Sinovac vaccine in favor of the Pfizer shot. The country approved both AstraZeneca and Sinovac vaccines for emergency use on March 2 after previously approving the Pfizer vaccine. It has granted conditional approval to the J&J vaccine manufactured in Belgium, and on July 16 it granted conditional approval for emergency use to the Sinopharm vaccine. Mass vaccinations began on February 24 using the Pfizer vaccine and the government aims to vaccinate 80% of its 32 million population by next February. So far, it has fully vaccinated 36.8% of its population. One million doses of the Pfizer vaccine donated by the U.S. arrived in Malaysia on July 5.
- The Philippines began its immunization program after receiving its first batch of the COVID-19 vaccine (600,00 doses of Sinovac Biotech's CoronaVac, donated by China). It is due to receive another 25 million doses of CoronaVac this year.
- However, there is little public support for the inoculation drive. Polls show that fewer than one third of Filipinos are willing to be vaccinated due to fears of the potential side effects. Currently, only 11.9% of the population is fully vaccinated.
- Singapore has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world. Currently, 71.3% of the population is fully vaccinated.
- Thailand began a mass vaccination program using the AstraZeneca vaccine on June 7. Currently, 7.9% of its citizens have been fully vaccinated. Thailand has granted emergency use authorization for the Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, AstraZeneca, and Sinovac vaccines, although only the latter two are actually available.
- Thailand's Food and Drug Administration has approved Siam Bioscience as a manufacturing facility for the COVID-19 AstraZeneca vaccine. Thailand plans to export the vaccines to eight Southeast Asian countries.
- Vietnam’s health ministry said the country will have nearly 125 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines this year. The total includes 5 million doses from Moderna, 20 million doses of the Sputnik V vaccine, and 31 million doses of the vaccine developed by Pfizer. Vietnam will also acquire 30 million AstraZeneca doses and 38.9 million doses through the Covax initiative. The U.S. shipped 2 million doses of the Moderna vaccine to Vietnam in July. The country has fully vaccinated 1.5% of its population to date. Meanwhile, a Vietnamese pharmaceutical company has begun second phase trials on a coronavirus vaccine.
- Cambodia has fully vaccinated 40% of the population, making it the second-highest country with total inoculation in Southeast Asia, after Singapore.
Travel
- Singapore has suspended its Reciprocal Green Lane (RGL) arrangements with Malaysia, Germany, South Korea, and Brunei due to a resurgence of COVID-19 cases. The move does not affect Singapore’s Periodic Commuting Arrangement with Malaysia, which includes longer-term workers and business travel.
- Singapore and Hong Kong agreed to postpone their travel bubble that had been scheduled to start May 26 due to an outbreak of cases in Singapore.
- Indonesia has closed its border to foreign nationals to mitigate the increased spread of COVID-19. The policy provides exemptions for holders of diplomatic visas and official visas related to foreign officials at the ministerial level, holders of limited stay permits, and permanent resident permits.
- Thailand’s Prime Minister announced in mid-June his goal of fully opening the country to foreign visitors within 120 days to pave the way for economic recovery. As of April, Thailand reduced its mandatory quarantine from 14 to seven days for foreigners arriving in the country who have been vaccinated against the coronavirus. Vaccinations must be administered within three months of the travel period and visitors will still be required to show negative COVID-19 test results within three days of their departure. Those not yet inoculated but with coronavirus-free certificates would be quarantined for 10 days.
- Vietnam has temporarily restricted the entry of foreigners and overseas Vietnamese to focus on COVID-19 preventative measures. It has also increased the quarantine period for incoming travelers and close contacts of confirmed cases to 21 days.
- Staff Contact: Phil Agress (PAgress@AdvaMed.org)
Europe (No Updates this week)
|
|