The world faces a second wave of COVID-19 infections.

An additional 225 Vietnamese citizens were brought back from Japan.

On June 30, 2020, Vietnamese authorities, the Vietnamese Embassy in Japan, and Vietjet Airlines coordinated with Japanese authorities to safely bring more than 225 Vietnamese citizens from Japan back to Vietnam. Immediately after landing at Da Nang International Airport, those on the flight underwent medical monitoring and centralized quarantine in accordance with regulations.

As of 6:00 AM on July 1st, Vietnam had gone 76 days without any community transmission cases, and a total of 215 imported cases were immediately isolated upon arrival.

The EU opens its borders to 15 countries.

The European Union (EU) announced it will reopen its borders to 15 countries, including Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia, and Uruguay, in addition to China, but with certain conditions. However, this announcement does not apply to the United States, which is considered to be facing a second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. According to an announcement published on June 30th, the EU decided to extend the travel ban for US citizens for at least another two weeks, depending on the pandemic situation in the country.

Europe is actively fighting the pandemic.

As of July 1st, Russia had a total of 647,849 COVID-19 cases and 9,320 deaths, ranking third in the world after the US and Brazil. However, Russia recorded a bright spot on June 29th with only 6,719 new COVID-19 infections, the lowest number in the past two months.

From July 1st to August 31st, Greece required foreign visitors to complete an online health declaration 48 hours before entry to determine if they needed to be tested for the SARS-CoV-2 virus. To date, Greece has detected 3,409 cases of Covid-19 and 192 deaths.

Meanwhile, Germany has for the first time implemented rapid testing services at airports, specifically Frankfurt International Airport, to help alleviate passenger concerns as the peak summer travel season approaches. The tests cost between 59 and 139 EUR, with results available as quickly as 2-3 hours. If the result is negative for SARS-CoV-2, passengers may not be required to self-isolate. On the same day, the authorities in the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia announced an extension of the lockdown in the Guetersloh region for another week. Across Germany, the number of COVID-19 cases currently stands at 195,832, while the number of deaths is 9,052.

Latin America remains a global hotspot.

The World Health Organization's (WHO) Regional Director for the Americas, Carissa Etienne, believes that the number of deaths from Covid-19 in Latin America could reach 438,000 if preventative measures are not maintained.

On June 30, Peru officially ended its nationwide mandatory lockdown after recording 285,213 cases of COVID-19, including 9,677 deaths, and entered a phase of gradual easing to restore social activities and restart the economy. From July 1, only 7 out of 25 regions in Peru will remain under lockdown due to the continued high risk of infection.

Meanwhile, Brazil is the country most severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic in Latin America. According to official statistics, the country has so far recorded 1,408,485 cases and 59,656 deaths.

The pandemic in the US remains the worst in the world.

The US still leads the world in the number of COVID-19 infections and deaths, with 2,684,266 cases and 128,857 deaths. Washington and New York states are reporting low numbers of new infections and deaths, but the other 27 states are experiencing contrasting trends. The majority of new infections in the US are occurring in the western and southern states.

The resurgence of community cases is due to complacency, a lack of vigilance in disease prevention, and the easing of social distancing measures. The spread of the disease has forced many state governors to reimpose measures such as closing bars and restaurants, including New Jersey, Arizona, and California.

Canada extends entry ban.

On June 30, Canada's Border Services Agency announced its decision to extend the entry ban for at least another month, until July 31, for all travelers who are not Canadian citizens, permanent residents, or those entering from the United States for essential reasons. This decision was made based on public health considerations.

The government also extended the requirement for all incoming travelers to quarantine for 14 days until the end of August 2020. Those who fail to comply with the Quarantine Act face fines of up to CAD 750,000 (USD 552,000) and six months in prison.

Australia imposes lockdowns in several areas.

On June 30, the Victorian government in Australia reimposed lockdowns on a number of COVID-19 hotspots. Starting the night of July 1, residents in 10 areas of Melbourne – Australia's second-largest city – will be required to restrict their movements outside their homes, except for essential purposes.

The announcement came after Victoria recorded 64 new Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours, marking the 14th consecutive day of double-digit increases in new infections. Since June 25th, Victoria has recorded a total of 233 cases, mostly in Melbourne. Since the Covid-19 outbreak began in Australia, the country has recorded approximately 7,800 cases and 104 deaths.

Beijing conducts large-scale Covid-19 testing.

On June 30, people in China's capital, Beijing, continued to line up for Covid-19 testing. The city had just reported seven new cases in the past 24 hours, but no deaths.

Beijing authorities have deployed more mobile testing sites across the city and are now capable of handling hundreds of thousands of tests per day. Beijing launched its large-scale testing campaign on June 11th, following the emergence of new outbreaks originating from the Xinfadi wholesale market.

To date, approximately 8 million people have been tested for Covid-19. Authorities have also begun to ease lockdown measures that have been in place for the past few weeks, but remain vigilant against the risk of new outbreaks.

South Korea reports a continued surge in new infections.

On June 30, South Korean health officials announced that two elementary school students had tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the first outbreak of the virus at a school in South Korea.

On July 1st, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) announced that South Korea had reported 50 new cases of Covid-19, bringing the total number of cases to 12,850.

Japan bans entry to 18 more countries.

The Japanese government announced it will add 18 more countries to its travel ban list, bringing the total to 129. The newly added countries are primarily in Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa, including Algeria, Cuba, Iraq, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Costa Rica, Eswatini, Georgia, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Lebanon, Mauritania, Nicaragua, Saint Vincent and Grenadines, and Senegal.

In addition, Japan will maintain border control measures such as suspending visa issuance for citizens of the above-mentioned countries until the end of July. To date, Japan has 18,593 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and 972 deaths.

Qatar eases restrictions.

Qatar will ease restrictions from the beginning of July, allowing restaurants, parks, and beaches to reopen, but with some preventative measures still in place. With a population of approximately 2.8 million, Qatar has the second-highest number of Covid-19 cases among Gulf Arab states, after its neighbor Saudi Arabia (190,823 cases).

As of July 1st, the country had recorded 96,088 cases of Covid-19, including 113 deaths.

India extends lockdown.

In India, several cities have extended lockdowns to curb the spread of the disease after the daily number of new infections remained close to 20,000. According to data released on June 30th by the Indian health authorities, the country recorded 18,522 new cases in the past 24 hours. With a total of over 550,000 cases in India, it is now second only to the US, Brazil, and Russia in terms of the number of infections. The number of deaths from Covid-19 in India has also risen to over 16,000.

According to the plan, from July 1st, India will enter what Prime Minister Narendra Modi calls "Unlock 2.0," where many travel restrictions will be eased, but schools, cinemas, gyms, and bars will remain closed. However, some states in the country, such as Assam and Tamil Nadu, have imposed their own lockdowns in cities where major outbreaks have occurred.

Iran records a record high number of deaths in a single day.

According to the latest figures, Iran recorded 147 deaths from Covid-19 on June 30, bringing the total number of deaths to 10,817 out of a total of 227,662 infections.

A day after recording this record high death toll, Iran's Ministry of Health stated that the country has not yet escaped the first wave of the pandemic. Official statistics show that the epidemiological curve of the Covid-19 pandemic in Iran has continued to rise since the beginning of May, the time when the Islamic Republic recorded its lowest daily number of new infections in nearly two months since the first case appeared. However, Iranian officials once again rejected claims that the increase in new infections is part of a second wave of the pandemic.

The epidemic situation in Africa is becoming increasingly complex.

According to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as of the afternoon of June 29, the African continent had recorded a total of 382,652 cases, an increase of 11,104 cases compared to the previous day.

According to the Africa CDC, southern Africa is the hardest-hit region, with South Africa recording 144,264 cases and 2,529 deaths, Egypt with 66,754 cases and 2,872 deaths, and Nigeria with 24,567 cases and 565 deaths.

According to the Director of the Africa CDC, since last week, the number of Covid-19 cases in Africa has begun to increase rapidly after many countries eased lockdown measures in an attempt to quickly restore their economies.

According to statistics, several countries are experiencing a sharp increase in new infections over the past 24 hours after easing lockdown measures. Ghana recorded 609 new cases, bringing the total to 17,351 infections and 112 deaths; Algeria recorded 298 new cases and 8 deaths, bringing the total to 13,571 infections and 905 deaths; and Morocco recorded 238 new cases and 4 deaths, bringing the total to 12,290 infections and 225 deaths.

Laos stops issuing tourist visas.

From July 1st to 31st, Laos will continue to suspend the issuance of tourist and visitor visas to individuals traveling from or transiting through countries with outbreaks of infectious diseases, with the exception of diplomatic staff, investors, businesspeople, specialists, and workers for essential projects in Laos.

Thailand reopens its borders.

On June 29, the Thai government decided to reopen a total of 37 border checkpoints with Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, and Malaysia to resume cross-border cargo transport and trade starting July 1. However, travelers from these four neighboring countries are still not allowed to enter Thailand through these border checkpoints.

On the same day, the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) announced that the ban on international flights would be lifted from July 1st, but only certain categories of people would be allowed to enter the country.

Huong Thao