Other Security News
COVID-19 Pandemic News

Other Security News

• Virginia, Maine National Guard CSTs conduct joint training Army News 20 May 2022 -- Soldiers and Airmen with the Virginia and Maine National Guard Civil Support Teams participated in Joint Hazard Assessment Team training with the FBI and the Virginia Beach police and fire departments April 25- 29.
• U.S. Army South, Argentine army work to strengthen cybersecurity capabilities Army News 20 May 2022 -- "In traditional military operations we need to be able to shoot, move and communicate. We need to identify key positions, know the terrain and know enemy capabilities. Cybersecurity is the same concept," said Chief Warrant Officer 3 Luis D. Nieves, a U.S. Army cyber defender assigned to the U.S. Army 915th Cyber Warfare Battalion. Nieves was chosen as an Army expert during a recent cyber defense subject matter expertise exchange between the U.S. and Argentine armies.
• Navy's Cyber Chief: Leadership is Key to Integrating Sea Power and Cyber US Navy 20 May 2022 -- Future military leaders must be prepared to fight wars, across specialties and in a virtual battlespace to win in today's dynamic environment said Vice Adm. Ross Myers, commander, U.S. Fleet Cyber Command and U.S. 10th Fleet (FCC/C10F).
• DOD: It's Not Just State Actors Who Pose Cyber Threat to U.S. DoD News 20 May 2022 -- It's not just hackers operating at the behest of adversarial nation states who pose a threat to U.S. cyber infrastructure — it's cyber criminals who are just in it for the money, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for cyber policy said.
• Federal Judge Blocks Biden From Ending Title 42 Border Restrictions VOA 20 May 2022 -- A federal judge on Friday ruled that a pandemic-related public health order must continue, allowing the federal government to turn away migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border, including those seeking asylum.
• DHS Statement on District Court Ruling on Title 42 DHS 20 May 2022 -- "As we have repeatedly stated, Title 42 is not an immigration authority, but a public health authority employed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to protect against the spread of communicable disease, in this case, COVID-19."
• Revocation of Five Foreign Terrorist Organizations Designations and the Delisting of Six Deceased Individuals as Specially Designated Global Terrorists US Dept. of State 20 May 2022 -- "Today, the Department of State is announcing the revocation of five Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) designations under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA): Basque Fatherland and Liberty, Aum Shinrikyo, Mujahidin Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem, Kahane Chai, and Gama'a al-Islamiyya."
• WHO working closely with countries responding to monkeypox WHO 20 May 2022
• Europe: WHO supporting countries affected by rare monkeypox outbreak UN News 20 May 2022 -- The World Health Organization (WHO) is working closely with countries where cases of the rare viral disease monkeypox have been reported, the UN agency said on Friday. The UN agency said in a statement that there were around 80 cases confirmed so far, across 11 countries, with a further 50 cases pending investigation.
• WHO set to hold emergency meeting on 'monkeypox' outbreak as virus spreads across Europe Press TV 20 May 2022 -- The World Health Organization (WHO) is set to hold an emergency meeting on the outbreak of the rare monkeypox virus, which is spreading in the European continent at an unprecedented speed.
• Europe, US on alert after rare monkeypox virus outbreak Press TV 20 May 2022 -- With the COVID-19 pandemic still lingering, a new health scare in the form of a rare viral infection of monkeypox has emerged in Europe and the US, putting health authorities on high alert.
• Italy reports 1st case of monkeypox People's Daily 20 May 2022 -- Italy announced on Thursday that the country's first case of monkeypox had been identified, with the patient isolated at a hospital in Rome.

COVID-19 Pandemic News

• COVAX calls for urgent action to close vaccine equity gap UNICEF 20 May 2022 -- Nearly 18 months after the first administration of a COVID-19 vaccine, incredible progress has been made - with lower-income countries administering billions of COVID-19 vaccines in a historic global rollout that is unprecedented in terms of speed, scale and demographics reached.
• Global action needed to streamline pandemic travel measures UN News 20 May 2022 -- Countries must find consensus on clear, equitable and streamlined pandemic travel measures, the heads of two organizations working to improve migration said on Friday during on event on the sidelines of the International Migration Review Forum (IMRF) at UN Headquarters in New York.
• UN High Commissioner for Refugees calls on states to lift remaining pandemic-related asylum restrictions UNHCR 20 May 2022 -- More than two years on from the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, at least 20 countries across the world today still deny access to asylum for people fleeing conflict, violence, and persecution based on public health measures. Some of these countries apply exceptions for the entry of asylum seekers in an inconsistent or arbitrary manner.

United States

• Department of the Army announces updated COVID-19 vaccination statistics US Army 20 May 2022 -- The U.S. Army announced updated COVID-19 vaccination rates and exemption requests as of May 19, 2022.
• U.S. CDC recommends Pfizer COVID-19 booster for children aged 5-11 People's Daily 20 May 2022 -- The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Thursday recommended a booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 5 to 11.

China

• Weeks of COVID-19 lockdown in Shanghai takes toll on residents' mental health Radio Free Asia 20 May 2022 -- The weeks-long COVID-19 lockdown in China has taken a huge mental health toll, with more than 40 percent of the city's 26 million residents reporting symptoms of depression in a recent poll.
• Beijing ramps up local COVID-19 lockdowns as Shanghai slowly starts to move again Radio Free Asia 20 May 2022 -- Authorities in Beijing are ramping up COVID-19 restrictions, while some residents of Shanghai said they were able to leave their apartments on brief trips outside on Friday.
• Beijing reports 50 new confirmed local COVID-19 cases People's Daily 20 May 2022 -- Beijing reported 50 new confirmed locally transmitted COVID-19 cases and 12 local asymptomatic cases on Thursday, the Beijing municipal health commission said Friday.
• Chinese mainland reports 176 new local confirmed COVID-19 cases People's Daily 20 May 2022 -- The Chinese mainland on Thursday reported 176 locally-transmitted confirmed COVID-19 cases, of which 88 were in Shanghai, according to the National Health Commission's report Friday.
• City in C China's Henan set to build permanent Fangcang hospital Global Times 20 May 2022 -- The municipal government of Shangqiu in Central China's Henan Province has commissioned a company to conduct the procurement for the construction of a large-scale Fangcang hospital, a type of makeshift field hospital that accepts COVID-19-infected patients during the epidemic, according to the government's website.
• WHO validates 3rd Chinese COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use People's Daily 20 May 2022 -- The World Health Organization (WHO) validated on Thursday the CONVIDECIA COVID-19 vaccine developed by Chinese developer CanSino Biologics for emergency use, making it the third Chinese vaccine after Sinopharm and Sinopec having been certified by WHO Emergency Use Listing (EUL).
• HKSAR gov't to relaunch online platform for declaration of non-local COVID-19 vaccination records People's Daily 20 May 2022 -- The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government on Thursday announced that the online platform for declaration of non-local COVID-19 vaccination records will be relaunched on Friday.

India

• India's Cumulative COVID-19 Vaccination Coverage exceeds 191.96 Cr India PIB 20 May 2022 -- India's COVID-19 vaccination coverage has exceeded 191.96 Cr (1,91,96,32,518) as per provisional reports till 7 am today. This has been achieved through 2,41,17,166 sessions.
• COVID - 19 Vaccination Update - Day 490 India PIB 20 May 2022 -- India's COVID-19 vaccination coverage has crossed 192 Crore landmark milestone (1,92,11,04,655) today. More than 13 lakh (13,41,844) Vaccine Doses have been administered till 7 pm today. The daily vaccination tally is expected to increase with the compilation of the final reports for the day by late tonight.
• Update on COVID-19 Vaccine Availability in States/UTs India PIB 20 May 2022 -- The Union Government is committed to accelerating the pace and expanding the scope of COVID-19 vaccination throughout the country. The nationwide COVID 19 vaccination started on 16th January 2021. The new phase of universalization of COVID-19 vaccination commenced from 21st June 2021. The vaccination drive has been ramped up through availability of more vaccines, advance visibility of vaccine availability to States and UTs for enabling better planning by them, and streamlining the vaccine supply chain.
• COVID-19 UPDATE India PIB 20 May 2022
• Health Ministry flags Considerable Decline in COVID19 Vaccination in some States/UTs India PIB 20 May 2022 -- The Union Health Ministry has flagged concerns regarding the considerably slow pace of COVID19 vaccination across States and UTs, and has urged them to significantly expedite the pace towards full vaccination coverage by saturating all eligible beneficiaries. This was communicated to all States and UTs by Shri Rajesh Bhushan, Union Health Secretary as he reviewed the status of COVID vaccination with Health Secretaries and NHM MDs of States and UTs, through a video conference (VC) today.

Iran

• COVID-19 kills 9 more Iranians over past 24 hours IRNA 20 May 2022 -- The number of deaths from the coronavirus pandemic in Iran increased to 141,262 with 9 more Iranians killed by the deadly disease over the past 24 hours, Iran's Health Ministry announced on Friday.

Taiwan

• Taiwan reports 85,761 new COVID-19 cases, 49 deaths CNA 20 May 2022 -- Taiwan recorded 85,761 new COVID-19 cases and 49 deaths Friday, down slightly from the 90,378 new COVID-19 infections and 59 deaths from the disease reported a day earlier, according to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).
• Taiwan COVID-19 News Brief: May 20 CNA 20 May 2022 -- Taiwan reported 85,761 new COVID-19 cases Friday -- 85,720 domestically transmitted and 41 contracted abroad -- and 49 deaths from the disease, according to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).
• Taiwan's accumulated number of local COVID-19 cases exceeds 1 mln People's Daily 20 May 2022 -- The total number of locally transmitted COVID-19 cases recorded in Taiwan has exceeded 1 million, the island's disease monitoring agency said on Thursday.

North Korea

• North Korea hails 'good results' in COVID-19 fight as caseload passes 2 million Press TV 20 May 2022 -- North Korea on Friday claimed "good results" in the fight against the country's first confirmed coronavirus outbreak even as the number of people with fever symptoms crossed two million.
• Active Medical Checkup and Treatment Launched in DPRK KCNA 20 May 2022 -- Officials, teachers and students in the public health and epidemic prevention field of the DPRK are continuing their scientific and concentrated medical check-up, treatment and hygienic information service to soon stop the spread of malignant epidemic in their regions and units.
• More Programs about Epidemic Prevention Produced in DPRK KCNA 20 May 2022 -- Emergency epidemic prevention organs across the country produce and give wide publicity to various media programs to improve the masses' awareness of epidemic prevention as the state epidemic prevention work was switched over to the maximum emergency epidemic prevention system.
• Mobile Service Teams' Activities Brisk in DPRK KCNA 20 May 2022 -- Activities of mobile service teams for minimizing inconvenience and suffering of the people and stabilizing their life have become brisk under the intensified lockdown condition in the DPRK.
• State Reserve Medicines Supplied in DPRK KCNA 20 May 2022 -- The Cabinet and the Ministry of Public Health in the DPRK continue to supply to all parts of the country the state reserve medicines which were immediately released to quickly curb and put under the control the spread of the epidemic, true to the decisions of the Political Bureau of the Party Central Committee.
• Epidemic Prevention Campaign in Kaesong City of DPRK KCNA 20 May 2022 -- Kaesong City of the DPRK strives to promptly implement the anti-epidemic steps under the maximum state emergency epidemic prevention system.
• Elderly and sick die of COVID-19 complications in North Korean capital Radio Free Asia 20 May 2022 -- North Korean authorities are mobilizing medical students in the capital of Pyongyang to help in hospitals suddenly overwhelmed with cases of COVID-19, sources in the country told RFA. Even so, deaths continue to rise due to lack of proper care and from counterfeit medicines as treatment options remain limited in the impoverished and isolated country.
• All-people Epidemic Prevention Campaign Emerging Victorious with Love and Devotion KCNA 20 May 2022 -- True to the idea and intention of the great Party Central Committee to brave the stern trials facing the country and people by dint of love and virtues, all the people of the DPRK are valiantly conducting a nationwide epidemic prevention campaign in a harmonious whole helping and leading each other forward.
• Epidemic Spread and Treatment Results in DPRK KCNA 20 May 2022 -- According to information of the state emergency epidemic prevention headquarters, more than 263 370 persons with fever, over 248 720 recoveries and two deaths were reported from 18:00 of May 18 to 18:00 of May 19 throughout the country.