Aspect of the coronavirus outbreak
This article documents the chronology of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic in August 2020, which originated in Wuhan, China in December 2019. Some developments may become known or fully understood only in retrospect. Reporting on this pandemic began in December 2019.
Reactions and measures at the United Nations.
1 August.
The WHO Emergency Committee expressed “appreciation for WHO and partners’ COVID-19 pandemic response efforts”, while noting that there was no an end in sight to a crisis that had so far infected over 17 million people and resulted in over 650,000 deaths, stressing that the impact would last for decades.
3 August.
The World Health Organization’s Emergency Committee on COVID-19 met to review the current coronavirus pandemic at what Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called “a sobering moment” due to the pandemic's massive direct and ripple effects, with a warning of "no silver bullet".
UNICEF warned that storms and coronavirus posed a ‘double threat’ for children in Central America and Caribbean.
4 August.
Secretary-General António Guterres issued recommendations to get children back in the classroom in a new UNESCO policy brief Education During COVID-19 And Beyond: "The Future Of Education Is Here", launched alongside a new global campaign called "Save our Future", as the UN estimates 1 billion children were affected by school closures in July.
The UN launched a COVID-19 Response Plan for the Philippines, to provide "critical health interventions and multi-sectoral humanitarian assistance" to those in epidemic hotspots in its largest country response since 2013, the UN response to Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda.
5 August.
The World Health Organization reported that a new “surge team” of leading UN health experts was traveling to South Africa to help with the COVID-19 response there, as the country was now among the top five of the world's most affected countries.
6 August.
Addressing the Aspen Security Forum, consisting of top-level present and former United States government officials, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), appealed to countries to unite against the disease, stressing that there were more than 18.5 million cases of COVID-19 worldwide and 700,000 deaths.
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) and governments announced that a flight carrying "protective masks, ventilators and other essential medical supplies for COVID-19 response" had landed in Papua New Guinea, commencing a humanitarian air service for the Pacific region.
7 August.
As the Americas remained the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, and on the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights affirmed "the need to ensure the world’s indigenous people have control over their own communities", given the "critical threat" of COVID-19 to indigenous peoples.
Special Rapporteurs and Independent Experts, part of the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council, again called on countries to ease or lift sanctions to allow affected countries and communities "like Cuba, Iran, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen" access vital supplies in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
10 August.
The International Organization for Migration and International Chamber of Commerce released new employer guidance for measures to protect migrant workers.
The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) pointed to 'green shoots of hope' in the pandemic, while stressing two main WHO recommendations, that “leaders must step up to take action and citizens need to embrace new measures”.
12 August.
Secretary-General António Guterres briefed the UN Security Council on sustainable peace and the progress of the global ceasefire, warning that COVID-19 threatened hard-won development and peacebuilding gains and “risks exacerbating conflicts or fomenting new ones”.
13 August.
The Director-General of the World Health Organization stated that the agency's main mission was now "focused on shepherding global vaccine candidates through the necessary trials", then "guaranteeing rapid, fair and equitable access" to vaccines for every country.
15 August.
A UN-coordinated televised and digitally streamed concert, "Pacific Unite: Saving Lives Together", appealed for regional leaders and citizens of the Pacific to unite as part of the global battle against COVID-19.
18 August.
The Director-General of the World Health Organization warned against “vaccine nationalism” in the COVID-19 pandemic, stating that he had written to WHO Member States, urging them to join COVAX, a mechanism to guarantee fair access to effective immunization for all countries.
20 August.
The World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF, citing research, urged African governments to promote a safe return of schoolchildren to classrooms while limiting spread of COVID-19.
21 August.
The Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Food Programme, citing data showing that over 3 million people are facing acute food insecurity due to COVID-19 and conflict, called for urgent, sustained humanitarian action in Burkina Faso.
As global cases of COVID-19 topped 22 million cases, with 780,000 deaths, and with several countries experiencing fresh COVID-19 outbreaks, the World Health Organization urged countries "to quickly identify and prevent clusters, to prevent community transmission and the possibility of new restrictions”.
24 August.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres launched his latest policy brief, on tourism, calling for the vital global tourism sector to be rebuilt in a "safe, equitable and climate friendly way". The WHO urged greater investment in the global COVID-19 vaccine facility, the COVAX Global Vaccines Facility, which 172 countries are now participating in and which aims to deliver two billion doses in 2021. UN Special Rapporteurs and Independent Experts on human rights have raised alarm over “grave and unnecessary” risks of catching COVID-19 faced by imprisoned human rights defenders facing lengthy pre-trial detention in Egypt.
25 August.
The WHO announced only a slim possibility of COVID-19 reinfection, citing documented cases of 1 in over 23 million.
27 August.
The WHO has announced the setting up of an independent expert Review Committee to examine aspects of the international treaty that governs preparedness and response to health emergencies. UNAIDS has warned in a new report, "Rights in a pandemic – Lockdowns, rights and lessons from HIV in the early response to COVID-19", that some of the world's most marginalized communities have experienced violence and other rights abuses during the COVID-19 pandemic.
31 August.
The WHO Director-General warned that kickstarting economies without a COVID-19 plan was a ‘recipe for disaster’, while advising on the measures that individuals, communities and governments, communities could take to ensure safety. Addressing a virtual town hall with young women from NGOs, part of the annual session of the Commission on the Status of Women, coordinated by UN Women, the UN Secretary-General stated that the COVID-19 pandemic had reversed decades of fragile progress on gender equality and women's rights.
Reactions and measures in Africa.
1 August.
Kenya's national airline Kenya Airways resumed international flights after they were suspended in March due to the coronavirus pandemic.
3 August.
In the Gambia, Finance Minister Mambury Njie, Energy Minister Fafa Sanyang, and Agriculture Minister Amie Fabureh all tested positive for COVID-19, and will subsequently self-isolated and performed remote work, making the total number of cabinet ministers infected with the virus five.
South Africa's anti-corruption organisation announced that it was investigating irregularities in several aspects of the government's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, amid concerns that senior officials gained access to millions of rand of financial aid.
4 August.
The mayor of Kanifing District in The Gambia, Talib Bensouda, tested positive for COVID-19 and was admitted to hospital for treatment, becoming the sixth senior politician in the country to test positive.
Nigerian private airline Air Peace announced that salaries have been cut and that around 70 pilots have been made redundant due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on aviation.
Vice-President of Zimbabwe Constantino Chiwenga was announced as the country's new Health Minister, following the dismissal of previous minister Obadiah Moyo over several corruption allegations relating to the government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
5 August.
Gambian President Adama Barrow declared a state of emergency in the country due to a large surge in coronavirus infections, closing the country's land, sea and air borders to everyone except diplomatic staff and essential delivery drivers. Schools and places of worship were also closed, although essential businesses were permitted to reopen. A night-time curfew was also introduced for three weeks to attempt to lower the transmission of the virus.
6 August.
Nigerian Aviation Minister Hadi Sirika stated that commercial international flights to and from the country will be permitted to resume in "weeks rather than months".
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that a committee will be established to investigate alleged corruption linked to the government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic, as well as businesses supplying personal protective equipment.
7 August.
The South African Rugby Union announced that approval had been given for full-contact training sessions and games, and therefore organisers were aiming to restart tournaments in September.
8 August.
The Algerian government announced a further easing of coronavirus lockdown restrictions, with bans on non-essential travel lifted across much of the country to the end of the month, with the night-time curfew shortened. Mosques with capacities greater than 1,000 people will be permitted to reopen from 15 August.
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta stated that the country's hospitality industry was ready to receive both domestic and international travellers, and thus urged Kenyans to travel in order to reduce the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.
9 August.
Authorities in Malawi announced that bars and places of worship will be forced to close to slow the increasing spread of coronavirus in the country; face masks will also be mandatory in all public areas and social gatherings will be limited to ten people. The Attorney General stated that law enforcement officers will be dispatched to ensure that the public comply with the new restrictions.
13 August.
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention announced that seven countries - Cameroon, Liberia, Morocco, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Zambia and Zimbabwe - will begin administering COVID-19 antibody tests to begin to understand the extent of the spread of coronavirus around the continent.
Reactions and measures in the Americas.
1 August.
Health officials in the Costa Rican capital of San José dispatched a mobile laboratory team to the Costa Rica-Nicaragua border to provide free COVID-19 tests to migrants stranded at the border after the Nicaraguan government announced that anybody unable to provide evidence of a negative result will be prohibited from entering the country.
Governor of Puerto Rico Wanda Vázquez Garced extended restrictions imposed to control the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, with cinemas, bars and gyms remaining closed until at least 15 August, with beaches closed to people not exercising every day except Sundays. Puerto Rico's night-time curfew was also retained with no large social gatherings permitted; authorities also stated that anybody refusing to wear a face mask in a public space could face prosecution.
American technology company Google stated that twenty US states and territories are experimenting with contact tracing technology developed by the company, with sixteen countries already using the Exposure Notification app developed jointly by Google and Apple Inc.
2 August.
White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows stated that he was not optimistic that American politicians will reach an agreement in the near future on further legislation aimed at relieving economic pressure on families and businesses affected by the pandemic.
3 August.
Chief of Staff in the Brazilian Presidency Walter Souza Braga Netto tested positive for COVID-19, and will subsequently self-isolate and work from home, making him the seventh government minister to contract coronavirus.
Authorities in Honduras extended the country's coronavirus curfew by a further week, now scheduled to end on 9 August, due to rising rates of infection both domestically and internationally.
In the United States, staff in over thirty school districts organised protests against the American government's plans to fully reopen schools at the end of the summer break due to surging coronavirus cases in the country; they urged the government to reconsider the plans and allow lessons to be held virtually until there is substantial scientific evidence supporting the physical reopening of schools, with several safety measures implemented such as the wearing of face masks and smaller class sizes.
4 August.
Secretary-General of the Brazilian Presidency Jorge de Oliveira Francisco tested positive for COVID-19 and will subsequently work from home, becoming the eighth cabinet minister to test positive.
The United States Government announced that late stage clinical trials have begun of a potential antibody treatment and several experimental therapeutics for treating moderately-affected COVID-19 patients, developed jointly by Canadian biotechnology company AbCellera and American firm Eli Lilly and Company.
5 August.
Canadian Procurement Minister Anita Anand announced that the government had reached an agreement with American pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Moderna to secure millions of doses of potential COVID-19 vaccines; Anand also stated that negotiations were ongoing with several other domestic and international companies to secure doses.
In the United States, data from the ADP National Employment Report shows that only 170,000