Subject: RE: Our standing WB offer to support the government of Georgia during the COVID-19 crisis
From: Sebastian-A Molineus <[email-masked]>
To: Natela Turnava <[email-masked]>, "[email-masked]" <[email-masked]>, "[email-masked]" <[email-masked]>, "[email-masked]" <[email-masked]>
Cc: Ekaterine Mikabadze <[email-masked]>, "[email-masked]" <[email-masked]>, "[email-masked]" <[email-masked]>, "[email-masked]" <[email-masked]>, Evgenij Najdov <[email-masked]>, Lire Ersado <[email-masked]>, Abdulaziz Faghi <[email-masked]>, Thea Gigiberia <[email-masked]>, Jan Van Bilsen <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 08 Mar 2021 15:53:17 +0000

Dear colleagues – please find below and attached the ECA-wide macro-financial COVID-19 update.

A further round of full 2020 GDP data out this week shows most countries’ GDP falling by 5 percent or more over the year. Turkey has been a notable exception

Market sentiment towards ECA emerging markets is declining, driven by a relative improvement in advanced market outlook. Financing costs are rising
– from low levels – across the region

Nevertheless, economic data this week show a more positive picture: Fiscal deficits regionwide were stabilizing in January, and real sector proxies suggest growth in
January and February in a range of countries

Other highlights from this week’s high-frequency charts (attached)

·
Risk and risk appetite: Risk appetite on emerging markets has fallen to its lowest level this year, and it is approaching a negative outlook. Most country level sovereign risk indicators have increased this week.

·
Economic news sentiment: Economic news on ECA developing countries over the last week has positively surprised markets, continuing a trend over February, according to the JPM Economic Activity Surprise Index.

·
FX: Many regional currencies have depreciated against the US$ this week, by as much as 3.5% (Turkey) and 2.1% (Hungary).

·
Equity: Emerging market equities fell further this week, with Emerging Europe the second worst performing region this year, after LAC.

·
Sovereign bonds: Long-term bond yields are still elevating, especially in Turkey, Poland, the UK and Czech Republic.

·
Commodities: Commodity prices reversed trend and declined this week, particularly oil by 4.5% and gold by 4.4%.

·
Real activity: PMI data show Poland moving into growth in February and Kazakhstan close to arresting its activity decline, while Turkey continues to grow, albeit weakly, and Russia growth continues.

·
Tourism: Tourism shows a substantial improvement in Serbia, Romania and Montenegro in January, while in Turkey and Bulgaria, arrivals remain depressed.

·
Inflation: Inflation moderated up in Croatia (but is still in negative territory) and in Georgia to 3.6% in February. The largest rise though was in Turkey, where inflation rose to 15.6%.

·
Monetary: The Kyrgyz Central Bank increased its policy rate by 50bps to 5.5%.

·
Fiscal: Further January fiscal data shows a general stabilization of fiscal deficits. While most remain deeply in deficit, in 5 out of 6 countries this week, there was a slightly fiscal deficit reduction.

·
Exports: The first February export data, for Turkey, shows export growth of 6% yoy so far this year.

Country-specific updates

Armenia

·
Both infections and test positivity rates have been on the increase over the last week due to the political protests as well as more a lax approach to masking and other containment measures. Authorities have signaled that in case
current trends persist, restrictions, including for schools, may be re-introduced.

·
A weaker dram, in response to the increased uncertainty and political tensions, as well as higher world food and commodity prices pushed inflation in February to 5.3 percent, yoy.

·
Mobility was largely stable (-25% compared to pre-COVID levels) while number of flights edged up.

Azerbaijan

·
Vaccination of education workers started in Baku and 10 dedicated vaccination centers were open in the city. By March 3, 313 thousand people had been vaccinated in Azerbaijan, which is close to 3.1 percent of the total population

·
Mobility and numbers of flights are gradually recovering.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Standard and Poor's has confirmed BH's current credit rating of 'B' with a stable outlook, based on an assessment of balance between fiscal and external risks associated to COVID-19, and the implementation of structural
reforms and expectations of stronger economic growth mid-term.

Georgia

·
An additional wave of restriction removal will take place on March 8 (including indoor restaurants) – most other restrictions (except the night time curfew) will be lifted on March 15

·
With the delivery of Pfizer vaccines delayed to mid-March, the authorities are finalizing the procurement of the AstraZeneca jab with vaccination expected to begin in late March.

·
A preliminary agreement was reached on the supply of one million shots of Novavax vaccine to be delivered by end of June. (Novavax’s authorization is expected shortly).

·
According to the vaccination plan, 60% percent of the population over 18 (1.7 million citizens) should be vaccinated by the end of 2021.

·
The deadline of the customs clearance deferral for vehicle imports was extended from March 1 to June 1, while Tbilisi municipality and the central gov’t are discussing a new financial grant to small and medium restaurants / cafes.

·
S&P kept the 'BB’ rating but revised the outlook to “negative” noting that 'tourism receipts unlikely to return to 2019 levels over the next four years’.

·
Mobility and numbers of flights are gradually recovering. More flights are expected to resume as of mid-March as Georgia is expected to waive testing requirements for vaccinated tourists.

Kazakhstan

The authorities have eased the quarantine curbs since March 1st. The areas that have been in the COVID-19 «green zone» for seven consecutive days
will be allowed to hold public events with mass gatherings.

The authorities plan to increase doctors’ salaries by 2.5 times by 2023 (to about $1,340 a month) to prepare for future health emergencies. This will cost the budget about ½ percent of GDP a year.

North Macedonia

Standard and Poor's has confirmed BH's current credit rating of 'B' with a stable outlook, based on an assessment of balance between fiscal and external risks associated to COVID-19, and the implementation of structural reforms and expectations of stronger
economic growth mid-term.

Russia

·
The European Medicines Agency has started a rolling review of the Sputnik V vaccine (source: The Russian Direct Investment Fund).

·
Several EU countries have already approved the use of Sputnik V on an individual basis. The vaccine is currently registered in Hungary and Slovakia

Tajikistan

The Tajik authorities are allowing foreigners to enter the country without PCR tests if they present proof of COVID-19 vaccination.

Turkey

Easing of COVID-19 restrictions began this week. All provinces are now assigned a very high/high/med/low COVID-19 risk category (see current status in figure).

All-day curfew has been removed on Saturdays for all provinces, and on Sundays for those with less than high risk.

Curfew has been lifted on the elderly and young people in less than high risk areas.

Restaurants and other service businesses can open with capacity and opening hour restrictions except in very high risk areas.

Face-to-face schooling will restart for all years in low and medium risk areas, while pre-school and senior years will restart in all provinces.

Further reopening measures will now be taken as a decentralized level by the provincial governorships, guided by their risk categorization.

Turkey stated its target is to vaccinate 52.5 million people by the end of May, using the 105 vaccines it has so far secured

Turkmenistan

Turkmenistan Airlines has extended the cancellation of international flights until March 31, 2021.

All foreign citizens wishing to enter the country need to show proof of the presence of COVID-19 antibodies.

Ukraine

The Health Minister Stepanov announced on Tuesday that that shipments of the Chinese-made Sinovac vaccine would likely be delayed. The Health Ministry has been criticized for signing a contract with a local intermediary, the pharmaceutical company Lekhim, to
procure Sinovac vaccines. Activists said the contract was expensive and the national anti-corruption bureau opened an investigation.

Lagging behind the rest of Europe, Ukraine has only just started vaccinating its population after receiving its first batch of 500,000 Indian-made AstraZeneca shots last month, prioritizing frontline healthcare workers and the military.

Thank you and kind regards,

Sebastian

Sebastian Molineus

Regional Director for the South Caucasus

Europe and Central Asia

T
+995 (32) 291 6238

M
+995 (577) 78 7821

M
+1 (202) 492-3914

E
[email-masked]

W
www.worldbank.org/en/region/eca

@smolineus

www.linkedin.com/in/molineus/

From: Sebastian-A Molineus

Sent: Monday, March 1, 2021 1:25 PM

To: [email-masked]; [email-masked]; [email-masked]' ; [email-masked]

Cc: Ekaterine Mikabadze ; [email-masked]; [email-masked]; [email-masked]' ; Evgenij Najdov ; Lire Ersado ; Abdulaziz Faghi ;
Thea Gigiberia ; Jan Van Bilsen

Subject: RE: Our standing WB offer to support the government of Georgia during the COVID-19 crisis

And here the corresponding ECA-wide macro-financial update.

A first round of full year 2020 GDP data show negative growth across the board: -7.9% in Armenia, -5.1% in Hungary, -3.9% in Romania and -4.2% in Ukraine

PMI shows output still in decline in the Euro area in February, and growth strengthening in the US

Other highlights from this week’s high-frequency charts (attached)

·
FX: Turkey’s lira again showed the greatest movement again this week, but this time deprecating sharply by close to 3 percent, reversing the gains it has made over February.

·
Sovereign risk: Risk in Ukraine has continued a slow but steady rise, while most other countries in the region saw slight risk increases.

·
Equity: Emerging market equities faltered this week, ending a bullish run over the past three weeks.

·
Sovereign bonds: Long-term bond yields are now rising across the board in the region, except for Turkey where yields continued to fall slightly on a more hawkish inflation outlook.

·
Commodities: Commodity prices continued climbing this week. Crude oil is 28 percent higher compared to the start of the year.

·
Real activity: January retail sales data is negative yoy in Kazakhstan, Poland and Russia, suggesting a sluggish first quarter before COVID-impact base effects kick in. On the other hand, Ukraine posted 3% growth in retail
sales volumes in January.

·
Exports: January export data show economies remain far from recovering to pre-COVID levels of trade. In Georgia, exports were 16 percent down year-on-year, and in Bosnia & Herz., they were 30 percent lower.

·
Credit markets: Private sector credit in January continued to subside in Belarus and fell to a three-year low of 4% in Poland.

·
No updates on inflation, fiscal, interest rates or tourism this week.

Country-specific updates

Armenia

The political situation got more complicated with the Army requesting the PM’s resignation on Feb 25. PM Pashinian rejected the call and warned of "an attempted military coup", fired the Chief of Staff and called for a gathering of supporters. Opposition parties
organized a counter protest.

The President, who also earlier criticized the PM, has not signed the PM decree on the dismissal of the Army’s Chief of Staff.

Preliminary 2020 data put GDP contraction at -7.6%, mostly due to a 14% decline in private consumption.

The Economic Activity Index was down 7.5% in January 2021, with only construction growing a yoy base. Still, the contraction in services (excluding trade) moderated, falling by 10% in January, compared to 20% contraction on average in April-December last year.

The dram weakened by 0.5% during last week to reached 527 dram/$.

Vaccination should start in March with the authorities planning to cover only 10% of the population under the gov’t program. Other, including people not classified as “high risk” will need to pay for their vaccination.

After gradually recovering in earlier weeks, tracked flights and mobility remained stable.

Azerbaijan

GDP contracted by 2.5% yoy in January fully due to lower hydrocarbon production. The non-oil sector posted a surprise 0.1% yoy growth.

200,000 persons (2% of the total population) were vaccinated as of February 23. Azerbaijan uses the SynoVac vaccine.

After gradually recovering in earlier weeks, tracked flights and mobility remained stable during the last week. More flights are expected to be reinstated from mid-March

Belarus

The government has announced that Belarusian pharmaceutical companies will produce some 500,000 doses of Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine every month  from March onwards, but questions remain about whether this is credible or not.  Separately,
the government has introduced broad-based price controls on foodstuffs and medicines until March. After March, prices can only be increased by maximum 0.2 % unless explicitly, to limit inflationary pressures.
If maintained, it will likely lead to shortages, particularly for imported items. Inflation rose to 7.4% in January (up from about 3.5% mid-2020) following a roughly 20% depreciation of the currency last year.

Bulgaria

Despite the increase of infection rates, the government has confirmed that restaurants will re-open on March 1, while night clubs, bars and discos will re-open on Apr 1. Recently Bulgaria started a mass vaccination process with 2.5% of the population having
received a first dose as of Feb 25. All key measures in support of
employment – 60/40 and 80/20 salary subsidies as well as the “Keep me” project remain in effect

Georgia

Georgia’s GDP declined by 11.5% in January as restrictions on economic activity and mobility remained in place.

The lari weakened by 0.7% during the last week

The Financial Stability Committee concluded that the banks’ balance sheets deteriorated slightly in 2020 and a further moderate deterioration is expected in the first half of 2021; still, the expected growth in NPLs is adequately provisioned. The FSC also announced
that it will soon put in place a plan for the gradual re-accumulation of the capital buffers (over 1-2 years) that were released during the height of the pandemic.

Most restrictions, except the night time curfew, are planned to be removed gradually starting on Feb25.

The list of countries whose nationals can enter Georgia by providing a negative PCR test upon arrival was expanded to include Armenia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Belarus. The list previously included the EU, U.S., Israel, Switzerland, Saudi
Arabia, UAE and Bahrain.

Georgia recorded 3 cases of the UK Covid-19 strain.

Vaccination, initially planned to start by end-February, is being delayed to March; allegedly, the supplier (Pfizer) asked for re-negotiation of some aspects of the contracts.

After gradually recovering in earlier weeks, tracked flights and mobility remained stable during the last week.

Kazakhstan

The authorities plan to ease the quarantine curbs from March 1st. The areas that have been in the COVID-19 «green zone» for seven consecutive days will be allowed to hold public events with mass gathering.

Moldova

The state of emergency was prolonged introducing new measures. Limitations have been introduced on the number of transported passengers to 50% percent of boarding capacity. All scientific conferences and sports competitions
are banned, excepting virtual and outside. New restrictions have been announced on the working hours of the farmers markets.

Poland

In response to growing number of COVID-19 cases the government decided to reintroduce some restrictions, with Warminsko-Mazurskie region having the most restrictive measures due to a difficult pandemic situation.

From February 27 following changes will apply across the country:

Mandatory use of proper medical masks;

Mandatory quarantine for people arriving from Slovakia and Czechia, with exception for people with negative test results from last 48 hours and those who are vaccinated;

Ceiling of 50 percent occupancy rates in hotels, cinemas, theaters. Restaurants in hotels remain closed;

Gyms remain closed, while tennis courts and outside fields are open;

Swimming-pools remain open, aquaparks remain closed;

Restaurants can only serve food for takeaway.

In Warminsko-Mazurskie region following restrictions apply from February 27:

Hotels to be closed;

Swimming-pools and tennis courts to be closed;

Cinemas and theater to be closed;

Shopping malls to be closed – with exception of pharmacies and grocery stores

Romania

The draft Budget Law for 2021 was approved on Monday, February 22. The Government targets a fiscal deficit of -7.2 percent of GDP in 2021, and expects strong economic recovery of 4.3 percent. The deficit reflects prolonged COVID-19
related expenditures and tax facilities to tackle the health crisis and support the economic recovery process.

Russia

Different regions are lifting restrictions depending on their own epidemiological situation.

The third vaccine, CoviVac, has been registered. It was developed by the Chumakov Center, and in mid-March the first 120k doses will be launched into civil circulation.

Starting March 1, Russian citizens can visit Georgia with a negative coronavirus test

Turkey

In a move to tighten Lira liquidity, reserve requirements for Lira deposits were increased by 200bps and the “reserve option mechanism”, which allows a proportion of these reserves to be held in gold and FX, was reduced from 30 to 20 percent.

Halkbank, a public bank, launched a new promotional credit scheme targeted at the tourism sector, which includes a 6-month grace period and 3 year maturity loans).

Vaccination of teachers begun this week, while vaccination of health workers and the elderly is well advanced with more than 8 million vaccinations administered.

Ukraine

Ukraine launched its COVID-19 vaccine campaign on Wednesday, with medical workers and military personnel in different regions of the country the first to get their shots of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, 500,000 doses of which were obtained from India.

Uzbekistan

From March 1, 2021, Uzbekistan Airways launches on-line check-ins for all flights to avoid standing in physical lines at the airports.

All universities, schools, and kindergartens in Uzbekistan have been back to normal classes from February 2021 due to stabilization of the COVID situation in the country

Thank you and kind regards,

Sebastian

Sebastian Molineus

Regional Director for the South Caucasus

Europe and Central Asia

T
+995 (32) 291 6238

M
+995 (577) 78 7821

M
+1 (202) 492-3914

E
[email-masked]

W
www.worldbank.org/en/region/eca

@smolineus

www.linkedin.com/in/molineus/

From: Sebastian-A Molineus

Sent: Monday, March 1, 2021 1:12 PM

To: [email-masked];
[email-masked]; [email-masked]' <[email-masked]>

Cc: Ekaterine Mikabadze <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked];
[email-masked]; [email-masked]' <[email-masked]>; Evgenij Najdov <[email-masked]>; Lire Ersado <[email-masked]>;
Abdulaziz Faghi <[email-masked]>; Thea Gigiberia <[email-masked]>; Jan Van Bilsen <[email-masked]>

Subject: RE: Our standing WB offer to support the government of Georgia during the COVID-19 crisis

Dear colleagues –

below our weekly COVID-19 update for the ECA region and US, including on vaccines. Interesting to note that by
Extending the interval between first and second doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine from 6 weeks to 3 months, you can boost efficacy from 55% to 81%, says
a Lancet meta-analysis.

2021

Feb
24

Summary – Key Development

Global COVID-19 Numbers as of February 23, 2021 (7 pm ET):

111,709,452
cases

2,473,742
deaths

Fully vaccinated: 39.31
million

Number of doses administered:
208.32 million

Longer infections could fuel a variant’s quick spread

The United States tops
500,000 COVID-19 deaths.

WHO
Launches 2021 Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan to Fight Pandemic.

The FDA
released a statement thar current evidence indicates that SARS-CoV-2 is not being transmitted through food or food packaging.

Moderna Says FDA Gave Positive Feedback on Request
to Increase Covid Vaccine Supply in Each Vial.

Johnson
& Johnson has sent off its phase 3 data package to the World Health Organization (WHO) for  EUL.

COVAX
launches No-fault compensation program for COVID-19 vaccines plan.

More evidence from UK that vaccination campaigns are significantly reducing the risk of both severe COVID-19 disease and SARS-CoV-2 transmission.

US FDA has issued new guidance for pharmaceutical companies on adapting

COVID-19 vaccines,
tests, and treatments such as
monoclonal antibodies.

Pharmacists say

'pooling' Covid vaccines could save thousands of doses.

Over 43 Million Doses of
Sinopharm's COVID-19 Vaccines Used Globally

Extending the interval between first and second doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine from 6 weeks to 3 months boosts efficacy from 55% to 81%, says

a Lancet meta-analysis.

Pfizer/BioNTech
scientists say their vaccine is stable at normal pharmaceutical freezer temperatures (-25°C to -15°C).

Report:

Infodemics and Health Security

Ghana
gets world's first Covax vaccine shipment of 600,000 doses of AZ/SII vaccine.

UK has given the first
dose of COVID-19 vaccine to nearly 18 million people.

Chile
leads in Latin America in its campaign to vaccinate its population against the coronavirus, with 2.5 million doses of vaccine administered.

Argentina’s health minister resigned after claims surfaced of the improper allocation of vaccines.

Afghanistan begins COVID-19 vaccination drive amid rising
violence.

India sends first vaccine
doses to Africa under WHO's COVAX programme but
SII vaccine supply to rest of the world may be limited because it had been directed to fill domestic needs ahead of export orders.

Pulse oximeters should
not be used to diagnose COVID-19, U.S. FDA says.

Headlines and Epidemiology update

Update on Key Tools

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Update

Number of weekly confirmed cases reported

IBRD: 1,053,888

IDA-eligible: 64,541

Number of weekly confirmed deaths reported

IBRD: 28,222

IDA-eligible: 1,377

Total number of confirmed cases

IBRD: 52,389,384

IDA-eligible: 3,311,091

Total number of confirmed deaths

IBRD: 1,266,971

IDA-eligible: 60,898

46.5% of all new weekly COVID-19 cases (Feb 15-22) are reported in IBRD countries, 2.9% in IDA-eligible countries and 50.6% in high-income countries. Likewise,
46.4% of all COVID-19 deaths since last week are reported in IBRD countries, 2.3% in IDA-eligible countries and 51.3% in high-income countries.

Of the total COVID-19 cases: 47.3% were reported in IBRD countries, 3.0% were reported in IDA-eligible countries, and 49.7% in High-income countries.

Epidemiology Update – New SARS-CoV-2 variants

The
Coronavirus is Here to Stay — Here’s What that Means – In January, Nature asked more than 100 immunologists, infectious-disease researchers and virologists working on the coronavirus whether it could be eradicated. Almost 90% of respondents think that
the coronavirus will become endemic — meaning that it will continue to circulate in pockets of the global population for years to come. The future will depend heavily on the type of immunity people acquire through infection or vaccination and how the virus
evolves. Influenza and the four human coronaviruses that cause common colds are also endemic: but a combination of annual vaccines and acquired immunity means that societies tolerate the seasonal deaths and illnesses they bring without requiring lockdowns,
masks and social distancing.

501Y.V2/B.1.351 variant
Recent evidence suggests that variant 501Y.V2 may compromise immunity indicating potential increased risk of reinfection. There is now growing
evidence that the mutations present in this variant may help the virus evade immune system responses triggered by previous infections of SARS-CoV-2 or by vaccines. There has been a report of a SARS-CoV-2 reinfection with the 501Y.V2 variant months after recovering
from a first episode of COVID-19 with a more severe clinical presentation.

Longer infections could fuel a variant’s quick spread – Preliminary findings suggest that B.1.1.7, a SARS-CoV-2 variant first identified
in the United Kingdom, might be more transmissible because it spends more time inside its host than earlier variants do. In people infected with B.1.1.7, infections lasted an average of 13.3 days, compared with 8.2 days in people with other variants. These
findings hint that B.1.1.7 is more easily transmitted than other variants are because people who catch it are infected for a relatively long time, and can therefore infect a larger number of contacts. This suggests that longer quarantine periods might be warranted
for individuals infected with this variant. The findings have not yet been peer reviewed.

Emerging Variant B.1.525 was

detected in the United Kingdom and Nigeria in December 2020. Since then, it has been detected in at least another 13 countries. This variant is partially similar to the 501Y.V2 variant and contains mutations which may be associated with some degree of biological
significance, including the E484K, Q677H and F888L mutations, as well as a similar number of deletions that are contained in B.1.1.7.E484K has been labelled as an escape mutation, so called because it may help the SARS-CoV-2 virus to evade host immune defenses.

HOW DO VARIANTS COMPARE?

Source:
WHO, 02-23-2021

Other Headlines

WHO Epi update
The global weekly incidence continues to decrease. The weekly total is fewer than 2.5 million cases for the first time since early October 2020 and less than half the weekly total of the peak
in early January. Weekly mortality continues to decrease as well, down to 66,359 deaths last week. This is a decrease of nearly 20% compared to the previous week and an overall decrease of nearly one-third from the high in late January.

French COVID-19 intensive care patients at a
12-week high.

The United States officially topped 500,000 COVID-19 deaths on Monday, less than a year into the
pandemic. The country with the second highest death total, Brazil, has seen half as many deaths as the US.

WHO
Launches 2021 Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan to Fight Pandemic

Long
COVID – A study conducted in Israel investigated chronic symptoms in 103 recovered COVID-19 patients over a 6-month period. Nearly half of the participants reported chronic symptoms that
persisted for 6 months, including 22% with ongoing fatigue, 15% with changes to taste and smell, and 8% with breathing difficulties.
Increasing prevalence of long-term health effects from SARS-CoV-2 infection are raising concerns regarding how long-term care will be managed for patients with long COVID. Some advocates have raised
the possibility of classifying long COVID as a disability as patients with severe chronic conditions following SARS-CoV-2 infection may be unable to return to work, or school or other activities.
USDA, FDA Underscore Current Epidemiologic and Scientific Information Indicating No Transmission of COVID-19 Through Food or Food Packaging

The FDA also
released a statement to stress that current evidence indicates that SARS-CoV-2 is not being transmitted through food or food packaging: “Consumers should be reassured that we continue to believe, based on our understanding of currently available reliable
scientific information, and supported by overwhelming international scientific consensus, that the foods they eat and food packaging they touch are highly unlikely to spread SARS-CoV-2”.

UPDATE ON KEY TOOLS

Vaccine Development and WHO approval

Novavax
has completed  enrollment in Mexico and the US for the Phase 3 clinical trials for its candidate SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. Novavax is using a novel technology with nanoparticles constructed of synthetic SARS-CoV-2 spike proteins to generate the desired immune
response. The vaccine also contains a proprietary adjuvant to boost the immune response. The Novavax vaccine requires 2 doses, administered 21 days apart.

GSK, Sanofi Begin New COVID-19 Vaccine Trial
of Protein-Based Vaccine. Britain’s GlaxoSmithKline and France’s Sanofi on Monday said they had started a new clinical trial of their protein-based COVID-19 vaccine candidate and aim to reach the final testing stage in the second quarter.

Russia
registers its third vaccine ‘CoviVac’ against the coronavirus and promised to introduce the jab to the Russian population by March.

Moderna Says FDA Gave Positive Feedback on Request to Increase
Covid Vaccine Supply in Each Vial.

WHO Draft
landscape and tracker of COVID-19 candidate vaccines

Johnson
& Johnson has sent off its phase 3 data package to the World Health Organization (WHO) for its COVID-19 vaccine shot just a few weeks after showing off its efficacy.

WHO SAGE Recommendations overview for Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and Astra Zeneca vaccines (source: WHO, Feb 23, 2021).

Vaccine  Access, Delivery, and Rollout

COVAX
The Group of Seven (G7) leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, and the US committed an additional US$4.3 billion to COVAX, bringing the total to US$7
billion from these 7 countries. The pledge includes
US$2 billion from the US, with an additional US$2 billion in the future, contingent upon the other G7 countries fulfilling their commitments.

COVAX
launches No-fault compensation program for COVID-19 vaccines plan for claims of serious side effects due to COVID-19 vaccines. This is the first and only global vaccine injury compensation mechanism. The program is funded by a small levy on each dose supported
by the Gavi COVAX AMC. The COVAX no-fault compensation program will be operationalized through its web portal (www.covaxclaims.com) by 31 March 2021, which will include resources such as the program’s protocol.

COVAX launched the

COVID-19 vaccine introduction toolbox, which provides guidance, tools, and training to equip all countries to prepare for and implement COVID-19 vaccination.

Vaccination
Efficacy insight from frontrunners
More evidence is emerging that vaccination campaigns are significantly reducing the risk of both severe COVID-19 disease and SARS-CoV-2 transmission. A study by

Public Health England found that the risk COVID-19 disease among healthcare workers (HCWs)

decreased by 65-72% after the first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, and more than 85% after the second dose. Additionally, the risk of infection decreased by 70% in HCWs who received one dose and 85% in those who received both doses. Similarly, data
from
Public Health Scotland indicates that hospitalization risk decreased 94% for individuals vaccinated with the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine and 85% for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

Study
shows real-world effectiveness of Moderna and Pfizer/BioNtech vaccines - Researchers in the United States have conducted a study demonstrating the real-world effectiveness of the recently approved Moderna and Pfizer/BioNtech vaccines at protecting against
infection with SARS-CoV-2 - the agent that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Can Covid-19 vaccines stop viral transmission?
Initial results suggest some vaccines may reduce infectiousness even if they don’t prevent infection altogether. An AstraZeneca trial found lower viral load—a proxy for
infectiousness—in the vaccinated group. However, scientists still can’t rule out that slowing infections in certain regions are due to other factors like behavioral changes.

Vaccine Safety
Analysis of early SARS-CoV-2 vaccine safety monitoring from the US vaccination campaign published in the

US CDC’s MMWR, reviewed safety monitoring data for the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines administered in the US from December 14, 2020, to January 13, 2021. During this period, 13.8 million doses of vaccine were administered, and there were 6,994 post-vaccination
adverse events reported in the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS).

Responding to the rise of variants, the US FDA has issued new guidance for pharmaceutical companies on adapting

COVID-19 vaccines,
tests, and treatments such as
monoclonal antibodies.
New vaccines that protect against variants will not have to go through large, randomized controlled trials required for initial versions of the vaccines. The vaccine guidance is likened to the process of updating seasonal flu vaccines. It may eventually
be possible to move closer to a flu vaccine model in which vaccine updates are tested in a lab, rather than in clinical trials.

Pharmacists say

'pooling' Covid vaccines could save thousands of doses.

After Pfizer deal,

Sanofi offers a hand to Johnson & Johnson for 12M COVID-19 vaccine production.

Over
43 Million Doses of Sinopharm's COVID-19 Vaccines Used Globally More than 43 million COVID-19 vaccine doses from China’s state-backed China National Pharmaceutical Group
(Sinopharm) have been used, including over 34 million administered in the country and the rest overseas.

Article on mRNA vaccine manufacturing process.

Extending the interval between first and second doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine from 6 weeks to 3 months boosts efficacy from 55% to 81%, says

a Lancet meta-analysis.

Pfizer/BioNTech
scientists say their vaccine is stable at normal pharmaceutical freezer temperatures (-25°C to -15°C), meaning that the product could be stored at these temperatures for a total of 2 weeks as an alternative to ultra-low temperature freezers (-80°C to -60°C
or -112°F to  76°F).

Infodemics
and Health Security – series of articles that analyze infodemics in health emergencies and communication policies and practices to overcome a variety of misinformation challenges in health emergencies.

Africa (AFE and AFW)

WHO is deploying teams of experts to support national authorities in Central and West Africa as they work to avert widespread Ebola
infections.

Guinea starts Ebola vaccine campaign as cases emerge.

Ghana
gets world's first Covax vaccine shipment of 600,000 doses of AZ/SII vaccine.

Europe and Central Asia

UK potentially to give
two doses of vaccines to all citizens by September.

Italian
police are investigating fake Covid-19 drugs and vaccines after receiving an offer to buy 27m doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine outside of the EU procurement system.

UK has given the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine
to 17.7 million people.

Ukraine received its first batch of 500,000
doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from India, allowing it to launch its delayed roll-out, starting with front-line medical workers and soldiers.

East Asia and Pacific

Vietnam
received the first batch of 117,000 doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday ahead of the planned rollout of the Southeast Asian country's vaccination program from next month.

Thailand
received on Wednesday its first 200,000 doses of Sinovac Biotech's CoronaVac, the country's first batch of coronavirus vaccines, with inoculations set to begin in a few days.

Philippines
has approved Sinovac Biotech’s COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, but will not give it to healthcare workers at risk of exposure due to its varying levels of efficacy

Latin America and the Caribbean

Columbia approves emergency use of COVID-19 vaccine.

Brazil has approved Pfizer/BioNTech
COVID-19 vaccine, but it has no supply to start an immunization program yet.

Chile
leads in Latin America in its campaign to vaccinate its population against the coronavirus, with 2.5 million doses of vaccine administered.

Argentina approves
Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use.

Argentina’s health minister resigned after claims surfaced of the improper allocation of vaccines.

Latin American governments are accusing Pfizer of strong
arming COVID-19 vaccine negotiations.

Middle-East and North Africa

Israel to share some COVID vaccines
with Palestinians, Honduras, Czech Republic.

Virus Spikes Amid Disbelief and Mistrust in Iraq. Coronavirus cases are surging
in Iraq amid widespread shirking of restrictions like mask-wearing and doubt about whether the pandemic is real. New daily cases, which were under 600 a month ago, reached 3,896 on last week. Half of them involve the variant discovered in the UK.

South Asia Region

Afghanistan begins COVID-19 vaccination drive amid rising violence.

India sends first vaccine doses to Africa under
WHO's COVAX program but
SII vaccine supply to rest of the world may be limited because it had been directed to fill domestic needs ahead of export orders.

Mobility

Singapore is discussing the mutual recognition of vaccine certificates with other countries.

US land borders with Canada and Mexico will remain closed to non-essential travel until at least 21 March to address Covid-19 concerns

Treatment

Pulse oximeters should not be used to
diagnose COVID-19, U.S. FDA says.

Prospective
Mapping of Viral Mutations That Escape Antibodies Used to Treat COVID-19. This study uncover a single amino acid mutation that fully escapes the REGN-COV2 cocktail, which consists of two antibodies, REGN10933 and REGN10987, targeting distinct structural
epitopes. The maps also reveal that mutations escaping the individual antibodies are already present in circulating SARS-CoV-2 strains.

Cissampelos
pareira L. extracts demonstrate anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity in vitro - A team of scientists from India has recently investigated the antiviral potency of a traditional medicinal plant Cissampelos pareira L. in preventing severe acute respiratory syndrome
coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection.

Diagnostics

Smiths Detection’s
BioFlesh
system capable of detecting SARS-CoV-2 in the air.

A prototype COVID-19 rapid test—which uses antibody particles from animals like camels and llamas—showed a 90% accuracy rate compared to

gold-standard PCR tests, and can produce results in 10 minutes without a lab.

Thank you and kind regards,

Sebastian

Sebastian Molineus

Regional Director for the South Caucasus

Europe and Central Asia

T
+995 (32) 291 6238

M
+995 (577) 78 7821

M
+1 (202) 492-3914

E
[email-masked]

W
www.worldbank.org/en/region/eca

@smolineus

www.linkedin.com/in/molineus/

From: Sebastian-A Molineus

Sent: Tuesday, February 23, 2021 10:43 PM

To: [email-masked];
[email-masked]; [email-masked]' <[email-masked]>

Cc: Ekaterine Mikabadze <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked];
[email-masked]; [email-masked]' <[email-masked]>; Evgenij Najdov <[email-masked]>; Lire Ersado <[email-masked]>;
Abdulaziz Faghi <[email-masked]>; Thea Gigiberia <[email-masked]>; Jan Van Bilsen <[email-masked]>

Subject: RE: Our standing WB offer to support the government of Georgia during the COVID-19 crisis

Dear colleagues –

below our weekly COVID-19 update for the ECA region and US, including on vaccines.

2021

Feb
17

Summary – Key Development

Global COVID-19 Numbers as of February 16, 2021 (7 pm ET):

109,463,210
cases

2,416,661
deaths

Fully vaccinated:28.61
million

Number of doses administered:
177.94 million

Israel
reported a 94% drop in symptomatic COVID-19 infections among 600,000 people who received two doses of the Pfizer's vaccine in the country's biggest study to date.

India
has detected both the South African and Brazilian coronavirus variants and people returning from those countries may be tested more aggressively.

The
coronavirus
variant identified in the Brazilian Amazon may be three times more contagious but early analysis suggests vaccines are still effective.

New COVID variant with 5 mutations identified in California.

Report of interest
– Staying
Ahead of the Variants

One shot of either the Moderna or the Pfizer vaccine
provokes a strong immune response against B.1.351 of SARS-CoV-2.

The WHO
has asked six African countries (Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone and Liberia) to be alert for possible Ebola infections, as Guinea reported a new outbreak and DRC reported a resurgence.

Evidence supporting use of facemasks in
JAMA
and CDC
MMWR.

Common
asthma drug Budesonide cuts COVID-19 hospitalization risk, recovery time.

EU regulator
to give verdict on J&J COVID-19 vaccine by mid-March.

WHO
lists two additional COVID-19 vaccines for emergency use and COVAX roll-out. The two versions are those produced directly by AstraZeneca-SKBio and those manufactured under the license to the Serum Institute in India.

Lebanon
started its COVID-19 vaccination drive on Sunday by inoculating the head of critical care at its biggest public hospital.

Malaysia
will receive its first batch of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines over the weekend for a COVID-19 inoculation drive that is set to begin on Feb. 26.

Australia's medical regulator
granted provisional approval for AstraZeneca Plc's COVID-19 vaccine.

Tanzania
refuses COVID-19 vaccines.

Headlines and Epidemiology update

Update on Key Tools

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Update

Number of weekly confirmed cases reported

IBRD: 1,174,470

IDA-eligible: 73,907

Number of weekly confirmed deaths reported

IBRD: 35,760

IDA-eligible: 1,606

Total number of confirmed cases

IBRD: 51,335,496

IDA-eligible: 3,246,550

Total number of confirmed deaths

IBRD: 1,238,749

IDA-eligible: 59,521

43.8% of all new weekly COVID-19 cases (Feb 8-15) are reported in IBRD countries, 2.8% in IDA-eligible countries and 53.4% in high-income countries. Likewise,
43.6% of all COVID-19 deaths since last week are reported in IBRD countries, 2.0% in IDA-eligible countries and 54.5% in high-income countries.

Of the total COVID-19 cases: 47.3% were reported in IBRD countries, 3.0% were reported in IDA-eligible countries, and 49.7% in High-income countries.

Epidemiology Update – New SARS-CoV-2 variants

India
has detected both the South African and Brazilian coronavirus variants and people returning from those countries may be tested more aggressively.

Seven newly identified coronavirus variants in the United States share a similar mutation
(Q677P in the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, which the virus uses to bind to cells), but the significance of this change is not yet clear, however,  it could potentially factor into the virus’ transmissibility, its susceptibility or resistance to antibodies, including
those generated through vaccination. These sub-lineages first appear in specimens sequenced at least as far back as August 2020, but it is unclear exactly when they first emerged. Increased sequencing capacity is needed to improve surveillance for these and
other emerging variants.

13 Middle East nations
have new COVID-19 variant cases.

The
coronavirus
variant identified in the Brazilian Amazon may be three times more contagious but early analysis suggests vaccines are still effective.

New COVID variant with 5 mutations identified in California.

Data released by a British research group last month suggested the B.1.1.7 variant may be deadlier than the original form of the virus, and
updated
analyses released late last week bolster that conclusion.

A comment in the Lancet,
explores how new variants are complicating efforts to end the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the steps required for vaccines to keep ahead of viral evolution and mutation.

One Health – Some
coronaviruses found in bats could jump directly to people
without the need for further evolution in an intermediate animal host, suggesting potential for the next pandemic. A
coronavirus
strain found on a Polish mink farm can be directly transmitted from the animals to humans and vice versa.

Report of interest
– Staying
Ahead of the Variants
Policy recommendations (US focus) include: (1) implement public health measures to slow transmission,  (2) prioritize contact tracing and case investigation, (3) develop a genomic surveillance
strategy, (4) improve coordination for genomic surveillance and characterization. First, implementing policies to slow transmission can mitigate the risk of new variants emerging in the first place.

One shot of either the Moderna or the Pfizer vaccine provokes a strong immune response
against B.1.351 of SARS-CoV-2, according to tests in people who have recovered from COVID-19. A single shot of the vaccine, increased neutralizing antibodies approximately 1,000-fold.

Variant Reinfection:
Israeli officials
have confirmed that 3 people who had recovered from COVID-19 have been re-infected with the B.1. 351 variant first discovered in South Africa.

HOW DO VARIANTS COMPARE?

Source:
WHO, 02-15-2021

Other Headlines

The WHO
has asked six African countries (Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone and Liberia) to be alert for possible Ebola infections, as Guinea reported new cases, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) saw a resurgence.

The number of global COVID-19
new cases reported has continued to fall, with 2.7 million new cases last week, a 16% decline over 500,000 fewer new cases compared to the previous week. The number of new deaths reported
also fell, with 81,000 new deaths reported last week, a 10% decline as compared to the previous week. The current weekly incidence is the lowest since mid-October 2020.

Evidence supporting the use of facemasks in
JAMA.
A  CDC
MMWR  study highlights associated decline in COVID-19 hospitalization growth rates with Statewide mask mandate.

The US
CDC published updated guidance to support schools’ efforts to mitigate COVID-19 risk for in-person classes. The guidance emphasizes 5 key mitigation mechanisms—mask use, physical distancing,
hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette, cleaning and sanitization, and surveillance and contact tracing.  It also provides guidance on how to implement these and other strategies at various levels of COVID-19 risk.

Study suggests that the humidity that builds up
inside masks, and increased hydration of the respiratory tract, may help lessen the severity of COVID-19.

The Associated Press has an
explainer
about what the WHO team learned about the origin of SARS-CoV-2.

Lessons from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic response in China, Italy, and the U.S.:
a guide for Africa and low-and-middle-income countries

UPDATE ON KEY TOOLS

Vaccine Development and WHO approval

EU regulator
to give verdict on J&J COVID-19 vaccine by mid-March.

WHO
lists two additional COVID-19 vaccines for emergency use and COVAX roll-out. The two versions are those produced directly by AstraZeneca-SKBio and those manufactured under the license to the Serum Institute in India. With the Emergency Use Listing (EUL) in
place, the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine can begin distribution through the COVAX facility, which will provide doses to low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) around the world.

COVID-19 vaccine trials are now underway in children for Astra Zeneca vaccine.

Challenges
in Ensuring Global Access to COVID-19 Vaccines: Production, Affordability, Allocation, and Deployment Having licensed vaccines is not enough to achieve global control of COVID-19: they
also need to be produced at scale, priced affordably, allocated globally so that they are available where needed, and widely deployed in local communities. This review looks at potential challenges to success in each of these dimensions. A dashboard has been
presented highlighting key characteristics of 26 leading vaccine candidates.
The paper also contains information from a 32-country survey showing that vaccine acceptance is highest in Vietnam (98%) and lowest in Serbia (38%).

*Vaccines that have been approved or granted emergency authorization by at least one stringent regulatory body; WHO publishes a list of stringent regulatory authorities, which includes
Hungary. Hungary has provided EUA for both Gamelaya and Sinopharm.

Vaccine  Access, Delivery, and Rollout

Moderna COVID-19 vaccine
doses to the U.S. government lagging because of "short-term delays" in the final stages of production at its contractor Catalent Inc.

The US FDA is considering allowing Moderna to increase the number of doses included in each vial of its SARS-CoV-2 vaccine from 10 to 14 or 15 doses. Increasing vial capacity by 40-50% could potentially
increase the country’s overall COVID-19 vaccine supply by 20%. Filling and labeling the individual vials remains a major bottleneck in the vaccine manufacturing process, so increasing the volume of vaccine in each vial would increase supply without adding
time to the overall time to finish each vial.

130
Countries Haven't Even Started Vaccinating There are the 130 countries that "are yet to administer a single dose," according to UNICEF. That's 2.5 billion people who so far have been completely
shut out of the global vaccine campaign.

Africa (AFE and AFW)

Lack of Covid data may leave African countries
behind in vaccine rush.  It may not be seen as priority because the true extent of the pandemic is unknown.

Africa CDC: Roll Out of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 Vaccine On Continent set to get underway— Except In
Countries Where B-1351 Variant Dominates

The South African Medical Association is expecting the first Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine doses to arrive on Tuesday.

Lack of Covid data may leave African countries behind in vaccine rush.  It may not be seen as priority because the true extent of the pandemic is unknown.

Africa CDC: Roll Out of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 Vaccine On Continent set to get underway— Except In Countries Where B-1351 Variant Dominates

The South African Medical Association is expecting the first Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine doses to arrive on Tuesday.

Europe

UK
potentially to give two doses of vaccines to all citizens by September.

The European
Union is adding clauses to contracts with COVID-19 vaccine makers which would allow the bloc to gain access to possible upgraded shots that may offer better protection against variants
of the virus.

First 550,000 doses of
Sinopharm's vaccine arrive
in Hungary.

Serbia has been approved to produce the Russian Sputnik V vaccine.

The
EU is holding talks with Moderna on buying more COVID-19 vaccine. AstraZeneca, with which talks have stalled, has suggested delivering doses of its own vaccine made outside Europe to make
up for supply cuts.

UK's drug regulator
is auditing manufacturing processes at Serum Institute of India (SII) which could pave the way for AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine to be shipped from there to the UK and other countries.

The European
Union will fast track approvals of coronavirus vaccines adapted to combat mutations.

East Asia and Pacific

Hong
Kong government advisory panel on COVID-19 vaccines said on Tuesday it would recommend Sinovac vaccine for emergency use.

The Thai
government defended its decision not to join COVAX, saying that to do so would risk the country paying more for the shots and facing uncertainty about delivery times.

Syringe shortage hampers
Japan's
COVID-19 vaccination roll out.

Malaysia
will receive its first batch of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines over the weekend for a COVID-19 inoculation drive that is set to begin on Feb. 26.

Malaysia
will extend its free vaccination programme to all foreigners residing in the country, including students, refugees and undocumented migrants, the government said on Thursday

Australia's medical regulator
granted provisional approval for AstraZeneca Plc's COVID-19 vaccine.

Latin America and the Caribbean

Brazil health regulator
approves additional AstraZeneca vaccine imports.

Mexico
says local AstraZeneca vaccine lab almost rebuilt to meet standards. In partnership with the Mexican and Argentinean
governments, AstraZeneca plans to produce millions of doses of the vaccine, developed with Oxford University, for distribution throughout the region.

Mexico has signed an
emergency
use authorization for China’s Sinovac vaccine, according to the country’s deputy health minister.

The
Dominican Republic has begun vaccinating healthcare workers against Covid-19 following the arrival of the first 20,000 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.

Mexico
on Monday began the task of vaccinating millions of senior citizens against the coronavirus, with dozens of Mexicans over 60 years old waiting in line for hours because of delays in administering shots.
Mexico
received a shipment of 870,000 doses of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine from India on Sunday.

Colombia
will begin COVID-19 vaccinations on Wednesday following the arrival of the country's first vaccines, from Pfizer Inc.

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines have approved Russia's Sputnik V vaccine against the new coronavirus for use.

Peru
probes early use of Sinopharm vaccine by top government officials before they were widely available in the country.

Middle-East and North Africa

Lebanon
started its COVID-19 vaccination drive on Sunday by inoculating the head of critical care at its biggest public hospital.

Iran declared
10 southwestern communities as high-risk COVID-19 "red" zones as a consignment of 100,000 doses of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine arrived on Friday.

Frontrunner lessons – Israel continues to lead the world in terms of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. Israel’s largest healthcare provide reported
a
94% decrease in symptomatic COVID-19 cases among 600,000 individuals who received 2 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, compared to those who have not yet been vaccinated. Despite its success, Israel still
faces many challenges
in terms of vaccine hesitancy. Israel is reportedly considering measures to prohibit unvaccinated individuals from some public spaces. Israel is also implementing more creative measures to incentivize vaccination.
At some mass vaccination centers, DJs play music in order to attract attention and draw in younger adults. Pizza, hummus, pastry and a cup of coffee offered at pop-up vaccination centers in
Tel-Aviv to encourage Israelis
to get their COVID-19 vaccinations.

South Asia Region

Experts raise concerns
over slow pace of Covid-19 vaccination as new virus variants enter India.

India
will increase the number of its COVID-19 vaccination sites by up to five times after administering nearly 9 million shots in a month.

How India Has Fared On
Covid-19 Vaccination So Far.

Tracking SARS-CoV-2 infection in India
with serology.

Pakistan approves
Chinese CanSinoBIO COVID vaccine for emergency use.

Pakistan lab
expects Sputnik V doses for commercial sale in a week.

Mobility

UK will provide vaccine
COVID-19 certificates for its residents if they are required by other countries, although it is not planning to introduce them for use at home.

Treatment

Common asthma
drug Budesonide cuts COVID-19 hospitalization risk, recovery time.

A Cochrane review
finds that “Hydroxychloroquine for people infected with COVID‐19 has little or no effect on the risk of death and probably no effect on progression to mechanical ventilation. Adverse events are tripled compared to placebo, but very few serious adverse events
were found. No further trials of hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine for treatment should be carried out.”

Diagnostics

SARS-CoV-2 testing
for public health use: core principles and considerations for defined use settings.

Thank you and kind regards,

Sebastian

Sebastian Molineus

Regional Director for the South Caucasus

Europe and Central Asia

T
+995 (32) 291 6238

M
+995 (577) 78 7821

M
+1 (202) 492-3914

E
[email-masked]

W
www.worldbank.org/en/region/eca

@smolineus

www.linkedin.com/in/molineus/

From: Sebastian-A Molineus

Sent: Wednesday, October 07, 2020 10:19 AM

To: Maya Tskitishvili <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked];
[email-masked]; [email-masked]' <[email-masked]>

Cc: Ekaterine Mikabadze <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked];
[email-masked]; [email-masked]' <[email-masked]>; Evgenij Najdov <[email-masked]>; Lire Ersado <[email-masked]>;
Abdulaziz Faghi <[email-masked]>; Thea Gigiberia <[email-masked]>; Jan Van Bilsen <[email-masked]>

Subject: RE: Our standing WB offer to support the government of Georgia during the COVID-19 crisis

Dear colleagues –

Please find attached our weekly World Bank COVID-19 update, with information specific to the Europe and Central Asia region, as well as globally.  Note also the update on vaccination efforts.

EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA

Only four European countries are now measuring below a crucial level of Covid-19 cases, as the continent struggles to contain fresh outbreaks. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control's
(ECDC) coronavirus alarm threshold is 2 cases per 10,000 people on a seven-day average. Only Germany, Finland, Cyprus, and Norway fall below this case threshold, ECDC data showed on Monday. Czech Republic (16.8), Netherlands (14), and France (12) have some
of the highest cases per capita on the continent.

Confirmed cases in France,
Spain, and the UK are now higher on an average day than at the peak of this spring’s emergency, although the trend also reflects better detection of the virus. Infections also have accelerated in
Italy and Germany in recent days.

France:  health authorities reported that the number of patients being treated in intensive care units (ICUs) for Covid-19 has gone beyond the

1,400 threshold for the first time since 28 May.  Paris bars have also been ordered to close from Tuesday.

Spain became the first western European nation to surpass 800,000 total coronavirus cases after registering 23,480 new infections over the weekend.

Russia on Monday recorded a rise in coronavirus cases close to the maximum level in May but it has stopped short of re-imposing strict lockdown measures. With the fourth-highest number of cases
in the global pandemic, Russia confirmed 10,888 new cases, approaching the 11 May highest recorded level of 11,656.

The UK, which has the biggest death toll on the continent, reported 12,872 new Covid-19 cases on Saturday, more than double the country's most recent seven-day rolling average, according to official
figures.

UK: More than
50,000 potentially infectious people may have been missed by contact tracers and not told to self-isolate because of a data error that meant nearly 16,000 coronavirus cases went unreported in England.

US

The US President has left hospital, three days after being admitted with Covid-19.

Nine U.S. states have reported record increases in COVID-19 cases over the last seven days, mostly in the upper Midwest and West where chilly weather is forcing more activities indoors.

New York is one of only 18 states where cases have not risen greatly over the past two weeks. However, New York City Mayor said on Sunday he is moving to shut non-essential businesses as well as schools
in nine neighborhoods, starting on Wednesday. The lockdown would require the governor’s approval.

The CDC acknowledged Monday that people can sometimes become infected with the coronavirus

through airborne transmission, especially in enclosed spaces with inadequate ventilation.

Vaccine

European Medicines Agency (EMA) starts first rolling review of a COVID-19 vaccine in the EU. The accelerated review of AstraZeneca’s and Oxford University’s candidate vaccine will be based on preliminary
results and doesn’t mean ‘that a conclusion can be reached yet on the vaccine’s safety and effectiveness.’

The GAVI vaccine alliance’s board has approved up to $150 million to help 92 low- and middle-income countries prepare for the delivery of future COVID-19 vaccines, including technical assistance and cold
chain equipment, it said.

Thank you and kind regards,

Sebastian

Sebastian Molineus

Regional Director for the South Caucasus

Europe and Central Asia

T
+995 (32) 291 6238

M
+995 (577) 78 7821

M
+1 (202) 492-3914

E
[email-masked]

W
www.worldbank.org/en/region/eca

@smolineus

www.linkedin.com/in/molineus/

From: Sebastian-A Molineus

Sent: Friday, September 25, 2020 7:25 PM

To: Maya Tskitishvili <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked];
[email-masked]; [email-masked]' <[email-masked]>

Cc: Ekaterine Mikabadze <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked];
[email-masked]; Evgenij Najdov <[email-masked]>; Lire Ersado <[email-masked]>; Abdulaziz Faghi <[email-masked]>;
Jan Van Bilsen <[email-masked]>; [email-masked]' <[email-masked]>

Subject: RE: Our standing WB offer to support the government of Georgia during the COVID-19 crisis

Dear colleagues – our weekend update.

EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA

Daily case numbers in the European Union and United Kingdom this week reached record highs of more than 45,000 on a 14-day notification rate, according to the ECDC, and new restrictions are being imposed
in places that were well into reopening. Leaders have raised fears over the pressure that hospitals could face in coming months and the looming prospect of new national lockdowns.

Europe's death rate has been stable for 72 days, according to the ECDC, although Bulgaria, Croatia, Malta, Romania and Spain are seeing death rate increases.

European countries are likely to impose more restrictions on public life in the coming days, analysts said.

France

France reported 13,498 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on Sunday over the previous 24 hours, setting another record in daily additional infections since the start of the epidemic.

The new cases pushed the cumulative total to 442,194 as the seven-day moving average of daily new infections rose to more than 9,700, compared with a low of 272 at the end of May, two weeks after the lockdown
was lifted.

A faster circulation of the virus and a six-fold increase in testing since the government made it free are the two main reasons for the scale of the increase, epidemiologists have said.

The number of people in France who have died from COVID-19 was up by 26 on Saturday at 31,274, a growth significantly lower than registered the previous day.

Health authorities reported a sudden jump in the country’s daily death toll from COVID-19 on Friday because of unreported cases in one hospital near Paris.

Russia

Russia reported 6,148 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, the second straight day when the daily number of cases exceeded 6,000, taking the national tally of infections to 1,103,399.

Russia has approved R-Pharm’s Coronavir treatment for outpatients with mild to moderate COVID-19 infections and the antiviral drug could be rolled out to pharmacies in the country as soon as next week,
the company said on Friday.

Russia has struck preliminary agreements to sell its Covid-19 vaccine to more than 10 countries in Asia, South America and the Middle East, a development that could give Moscow valuable economic and political
leverage internationally.

Spain

Protesters in some poorer areas of Madrid that are facing lockdown to stem a soaring COVID-19 infection rate took to the streets on Sunday to call for better health provisions, complaining of discrimination
by the authorities.

Madrid’s regional government on Friday ordered a lockdown from Monday in some of the poorer areas of the city and its outskirts that are home to about 850,000 people after a surge in coronavirus cases
there.

The lockdown measures predominantly apply to areas of lower income and with higher immigrant populations. Peaceful protests were held in 12 of the 37 districts affected on Sunday.

About 600 people demonstrated in the southern district of Vallecas, which has one of the highest infection rates in the Spanish capital - about six times higher than that of Chamberi, a wealthy area in
the north of the city, according to regional government figures.

Turkey

Resurgent coronavirus cases in Turkey are fueling tensions between doctors who say the official figures underplay the scale of the outbreak and politicians who accuse the country’s medical association
of undermining efforts to contain it.

Many doctors question the official COVID-19 numbers, saying that although they don’t have their own independent nationwide data, the scale of cases they see at a local level does not tally with the bigger
picture presented by the government.

More than 1,600 new cases and 60 deaths from COVID-19 are now reported daily, well off peak levels in April but rising steadily, with average numbers of deaths now three times the rates recorded between
June and August.

UK

The United Kingdom is likely to reintroduce national lockdown measures sooner rather than later, a leading epidemiologist has said, as new coronavirus cases rose to their highest level since early May.

The UK already had the highest official COVID-19 death toll in Europe - and the fifth-largest in the world.

New COVID-19 cases have been rising by at least 6,000 a day in the UK, according to week-old data, hospital admissions are doubling every eight days, and the testing system is buckling.

The government's chief medical officer, and chief scientific adviser, cautioned that if left unrestricted, the epidemic would reach 50,000 new cases a day by mid-October in the UK

NORTH AMERICA

US

As fall arrives in the Northern Hemisphere and chilly air forces more people indoors, the US needs to brace for a COVID-19 winter surge. Already, cases are on the rise in 20 out of 50 states—including
New Jersey and New York, where cases had been trending downwards for months.

Although new cases are down overall about 50% from the peak in July, the US still reports ~40,000 new infections a day. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases,
says the US needs to get that number down below 10,000 before flu seasons starts.

US is nearing 200,000 coronavirus deaths, the highest toll in the world.

The US performed a record one million tests on Saturday – but experts say the country needs to be hitting targets of between six and ten million a day to get the outbreak under control.

VACCINES, DIAGNOSTICS, AND THERAPEUTICS

Vaccines.
Rich nations have already bought more than half of world's vaccine doses, Oxfam finds. A new Oxfam report finds that rich countries, representing around 13% of the world's population - have bought 51% of the future supply, or around
2.7 billion doses. Earlier this week, a report found that this exact scenario could lead to almost twice as many people dying of Covid-19, according to modelling from Northeastern University. According to the official Oxfam statement, the estimated cost of
providing a vaccine for everyone on Earth is less than 1 percent of the projected cost of COVID-19 to the global economy. “The economic case for requiring pharmaceutical companies to share their vaccine knowledge free of patents so that production can be scaled
up as fast as possible could not be clearer”, the agency said.

Vaccines.
64 higher income economies have joined the COVAX Facility, with a further 38 economies expected to sign in the coming days. 92 lower income economies are eligible for financial support through the Gavi COVAX Advance Market Commitment.
A total of 156 economies, representing nearly two-thirds of the global population, are now committed to or eligible to receive vaccines through the Facility.

Vaccines.
Sanofi and GSK will provide up to 300 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine to the European Union.  Sanofi and GSK finalized and signed today an advanced purchase agreement with the European Commission for the supply of up to 300 million
doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, once the vaccine is approved. The contract will allow the purchase of a vaccine against COVID-19 for all Member States of the EU, which may donate reserved doses to LMICs.

Vaccines.
AstraZeneca Releases Blueprints for Virus Vaccine Trial Amid Safety Scrutiny. The blueprint states that its goal is to develop a vaccine with 50 per cent effectiveness against the SARS-CoV-2, the same threshold set by the US FDA
guidelines. The benchmarks set by the WHO are more stringent calling for +70% efficacy and a duration of protection of one year.

Diagnostics.
U.S. plans for hundreds of millions of cheap, fast COVID-19 tests.  U.S. manufacturers are sharply increasing production of cheap, fast - but less accurate - COVID-19 tests, aiming for 100 million per month by year end that will
enable schools and workplaces to significantly expand testing.

Thank you and kind regards,

Sebastian

Sebastian Molineus

Regional Director for the South Caucasus

Europe and Central Asia

T
+995 (32) 291 6238

M
+995 (577) 78 7821

M
+1 (202) 492-3914

E
[email-masked]

W
www.worldbank.org/en/region/eca

@smolineus

www.linkedin.com/in/molineus/

From: Sebastian-A Molineus

Sent: Thursday, September 10, 2020 1:00 PM

To: Maya Tskitishvili <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked];
[email-masked]; [email-masked]' <[email-masked]>

Cc: Ekaterine Mikabadze <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked];
[email-masked]; Evgenij Najdov <[email-masked]>; Lire Ersado <[email-masked]>; Abdulaziz Faghi <[email-masked]>;
Jan Van Bilsen <[email-masked]>; [email-masked]' <[email-masked]>

Subject: RE: Our standing WB offer to support the government of Georgia during the COVID-19 crisis

Dear colleagues –

please find below and attached our weekly WB update on COVID-19.  Please note in particular the progress report on vaccines below.

EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA

France

The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in France rose again compared with the previous day, as did the death toll, as the country battles to contain a likely second wave of the virus.

France has the seventh-highest COVID-19 death toll in the world, and authorities are scrutinizing the data to see what further measures might be needed to help the country cope with an expected second
wave of the virus this winter.

The French health ministry added that 537 patients were in intensive care units (ICU), of which the majority were in urban areas such as the Paris/Ile de France region, and the areas around Marseille
and Nice.

Greece

Nearly one in two Greeks (44%) would skip a vaccine for the novel coronavirus if it was approved and freely available, according to a poll published Sunday, with nearly 20 percent opposing masks as well.
The poll of 1,000 respondents was carried out by Greek firm Metron Analysis.

Italy

Italy reported 1,695 new cases on Saturday, less than 40 fewer than a four-month high recorded Friday. While numbers have been inching up all week amid record testing, they’re well below the daily peak
of 6,557 infections on March 21 and recent spikes in European countries such as France and Spain.

The Italian government plans to extend measures to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus through the end of September, including requiring people to wear masks and maintain social-distancing.

Protesters gathered in the Italian capital, Rome, to protest against the use of masks to help contain the spread of coronavirus.

Former Italian Prime minister Silvio  Berlusconi is hospitalized for COVID-19 but responding optimally to treatment.

Russia

Russian authorities have singled out teachers -- as well as doctors -- as key workers who will get access to the vaccine first, even before crucial phase 3 human trials have finished.

A Russian teachers' union, "Uchitel," however, started an online petition calling on members to reject the vaccine outright on safety grounds, and expressing concern that vaccination -- currently voluntary
-- should not be made mandatory unless clinical trials are complete.

Russia will complete early-stage trials on a second potential COVID-19 vaccine produced by the Vector Institute on Sept. 30, the RIA news agency cited Russia’s consumer health safety watchdog on Monday.

Spain

Spain has become the first western European country to record more than half a million Covid-19 cases.

Like its European neighbors, Spain is reopening schools this month despite the rapid spread of the virus, with the country counting the highest number of new infections on the continent.

For weeks now, there have been a growing number of protests and petitions across Spain to demand better health and safety measures in schools.

An international Ipsos poll in July found most Spanish parents would back limiting the number of days children are in school, with one in four preferring to wait four to six months before sending them
back.

UK

The United Kingdom reported its highest daily total of new coronavirus cases on Sunday since late May, officials said.

There have been 2,988 cases confirmed in the past 24 hours, according to Health Secretary, who noted that this figure was over 1,000 more than the prior day's tally of new cases.

The previous high figure was on May 22.

The new figures raise the prospect that the UK could face a similar situation to France and Spain, where young people being infected with the virus caused a rise in hospital admissions among older and
more vulnerable people a few weeks later.

NORTH AMERICA

US

Cases are rising in 22 states in less-populated parts of the Midwest and South. Many state officials have issued precautionary measures for residents, but thousands across the US, including the state of
California, congregated in public areas without observing proper distancing and protective rules as the country celebrated the end-of-summer Labor Day weekend.

As a percentage, South Dakota has seen the biggest rise over the past two weeks with an increase of 126% - over 3,700 new cases. However, the increases across different states have been offset by a falling
number of new infections in the most populous states of California, Florida and Texas.

The US continues to average around 1,000 new fatalities each day, as the total death toll approaches 190,000 - the highest total globally.

As more U.S. universities and colleges try to reopen with in-person instruction, outbreaks, student parties and pushback from instructors and students are threatening their plans.

More than 51,000 cases have been reported at more than 1,000 campuses.

States should be prepared to distribute a coronavirus vaccine by Nov. 1 "just in case" one is ready, the US Surgeon General said.

VACCINES, DIAGNOSTICS, AND THERAPEUTICS

Vaccine.
Vaccine group says 76 rich countries now committed to 'COVAX' access plan. Seth Berkley, chief executive of the GAVI vaccines alliance, said the COVAX Facility now has Japan, Germany, Norway and more than 70 other nations signed up, agreeing in
principle to procure COVID-19 vaccines through the facility for their populations. An agreement with China has not been signed yet, but Beijing has given “a positive signal.”

Vaccine.
The WHO does not expect widespread vaccinations against COVID-19 until the middle of next year, stressing the importance of rigorous checks on their effectiveness and safety. None of the candidate vaccines in advanced
clinical trials so far has demonstrated a "clear signal" of efficacy at the level of at least 50% sought by the WHO.

Vaccine.
Johnson & Johnson has published pre-clinical results of its potential coronavirus vaccine in Nature, which show that the vaccine prevents severe illness in hamsters. The promising results in hamsters do not necessarily
mean the vaccine will provide the same level of protection in humans. Clinical trials of the vaccine are ongoing.

Vaccine.
The WHO is working with China on requirements for international approval of any Chinese COVID-19 vaccine.

Vaccine.
Russia’s “Sputnik-V” COVID-19 vaccine produced an antibody response in all participants in early-stage trials, according to results published by The Lancet. The results of the two trials, conducted in June-July this year
and involving 76 participants, showed 100% of participants developing antibodies to the new coronavirus and no serious side effects.

Treatment.
Novo is exploring whether a new class of medicines that helps people lose weight and control diabetes also has potential in fighting Covid-19.

Treatment.
Treating critically ill COVID-19 patients with corticosteroid drugs (hydrocortisone, dexamethasone and methylprednisolone) reduces the risk of death by 20%, an analysis of seven international trials found. “This is equivalent
to around 68% of [the sickest Covid-19] patients surviving after treatment with corticosteroids, compared to around 60% surviving in the absence of corticosteroids,” the researchers said.

Treatment.
The WHO revised its guidance and endorsed the use of corticosteroids for the treatment of patients with severe and critical COVID-19.

Diagnostics.
The National Institutes of Health has picked nine additional test manufacturers to advance through its “Shark Tank”-like COVID-19 diagnostics competition—alongside $129.3 million in new funding to help scale up the production
of both point-of-care screening tests and high-throughput laboratory assays.

Diagnostics.
Roche receives FDA Emergency Use Authorization for the cobas SARS-CoV-2 & Influenza A/B Test for use on the cobas 6800/8800 Systems. It will be the first commercial test for fully automated high throughput systems to detect and
differentiate SARS-CoV-2, influenza A virus and/or influenza B virus with a single sample.

Diagnostics.
HK study finds COVID-19 stool tests may be more effective for infants since they carry a higher viral load in their stool than adults.

Thank you and kind regards,

Sebastian

Sebastian Molineus

Regional Director for the South Caucasus

Europe and Central Asia

T
+995 (32) 291 6238

M
+995 (577) 78 7821

M
+1 (202) 492-3914

E
[email-masked]

W
www.worldbank.org/en/region/eca

@smolineus

www.linkedin.com/in/molineus/

From: Sebastian-A Molineus

Sent: Friday, August 21, 2020 7:36 PM

To: Maya Tskitishvili <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked];
[email-masked]; [email-masked]' <[email-masked]>

Cc: Ekaterine Mikabadze <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked];
[email-masked]; Evgenij Najdov <[email-masked]>; Lire Ersado <[email-masked]>; Abdulaziz Faghi <[email-masked]>;
Jan Van Bilsen <[email-masked]>; [email-masked]' <[email-masked]>

Subject: RE: Our standing WB offer to support the government of Georgia during the COVID-19 crisis

Dear colleague –

For your weekend reading pleasure, please find below ECA-specific information from the WB’s weekly COVID-19 update.  Please also find attached the weekly ECA COVID-19 Monitoring presentation with key indicators across the region.

EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA

Belgium

More than 200 people have demonstrated in Brussels against coronavirus restrictions after the regional government mandated face masks in public.

Belgium has reported a total of 78,534 cases and 9,944 deaths so far with 211 new cases and 5 new deaths in last 24 hours.

Wearing a mask became compulsory on Wednesday for 1.2 million people living in the Brussels region, as Belgium battles one of the most serious coronavirus outbreaks in Europe. The call to demonstrate
was launched on social media by a group of citizens under the slogan "Viruswaanzin", or "viral madness" in Dutch, a movement that first appeared in the Netherlands.

France

France is expected to announce quarantine requirements for people coming from the UK in a tit-for-tat move as COVID-19 cases surge across Europe.

French authorities warned last week that the country would "apply reciprocal measures" following the announcement by Britain that anyone travelling from France would have to submit to a 14-day self-isolation
requirement upon arrival. The UK measure came into force on August 15.

More than 3,000 new cases were reported in France on both Saturday and Sunday, according to the Health Ministry. The country, which has so far recorded more than 218,500 COVID-19 cases and 30,410 deaths,
is also investigating 236 clusters.

It was the second day in a row that new infections surpassed the 3,000 mark.

There were 4,860 people in hospital with Covid-19, including 376 in intensive care units.

Germany

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 561 to 224,014, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Monday.

The reported death toll rose by one to 9,232, the tally showed.

Germany's health minister believes there will "certainly" be a widely-available coronavirus vaccine in the next year and is "optimistic" that one will be developed in the coming months.

Russia

Russia’s Petrovax has started a late-stage trial of a COVID-19 candidate vaccine from CanSino Biologics Inc in the country, records show, as the Chinese drug firm steps up testing abroad to close in on
regulatory approval. The Ad5-nCoV vaccine already has approval for use by China’s military after early and mid-stage trials, and further late-stage trials are being lined up for Mexico and Saudi Arabia. CanSino last month said it was in talks for opportunities
to launch late-stage - or Phase 3 - trials in Saudi Arabia, Russia, Brazil and Chile.

Russia’s energy minister has tested positive for SARS-CoV-2.

The world-famous Mariinsky ballet company has called off performances after some 30 members, mostly dancers, contracted the coronavirus, St Petersburg health authorities said on Monday.

The company has won a patent approval from Beijing for the vaccine, Chinese state media reported on Sunday, citing documents from the country’s intellectual property regulator.

This is the first trial of a potential vaccine developed by a foreign company to take place in Russia, while the country prepares to start mass production of its domestic shot developed by Moscow’s Gamaleya
Institute.

Spain

Spanish health authorities continue to lose ground to COVID-19, with the Health Ministry reporting 16,269 new infections and more than 1,000 active outbreaks on Monday.

The number of new infections spans three days, from Friday to Monday, as the Spanish government no longer publishes COVID-19 data on the weekends.

In the last two weeks, nearly 60,000 new cases have been confirmed -- almost one-sixth of all COVID-19 infections detected in Spain since the beginning of the pandemic, specifically 359,082.

In the last week, over 1,000 people have been hospitalized for the infectious disease and 54 have died, according to the Health Ministry. Hundreds of people have gathered in Madrid to demonstrate against
the mandatory wearing of face masks and other measures put in place by the Spanish government to stop the spread of Covid-19.

UK

The United Kingdom recorded 713 new daily confirmed cases of COVID-19, official data showed on Monday, the first time it has dropped below 1,000 in six days.

Three more people have died within 28 days of testing positive for the coronavirus.

Britain on Monday urged elderly people and volunteers from Black and Asian minority groups to sign up to a COVID-19 vaccine trial registry to boost efforts to find a working vaccine against the disease
that offers protection for higher risk groups.

Britain’s health secretary will announce this week that Public Health England (PHE) will be scrapped and replaced by a new body.

More than 70 staff at a Nottinghamshire dessert factory have now tested positive for Covid-19.

NORTH AMERICA

US

The United States surpassed 170,000 coronavirus deaths as health officials express concerns over Covid-19 complicating the fall flu season.

U.S. death toll from COVID-19 rose 2% to about 7,400 people last week, while new cases declined for a fourth week in a row. The US has at least 5.4 million confirmed coronavirus cases in total, the highest
in the world and likely an undercount as the country still has not ramped up testing to the recommended levels.

Cases are falling in most states except for Hawaii, South Dakota and Illinois.

Nationally, the share of all tests that came back positive for the new virus was 7%, down from 8% the prior week. Mississippi, Nevada, Florida and Idaho had the highest positive rates at over 16%. Only
16 states and Washington D.C. reported a positivity rate under 5%, which is the threshold that the World Health Organization considers concerning because it suggests there are more cases in the community that have not yet been uncovered.

The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation is anticipating an uptick in Covid-19 cases in the coming months, resulting in around 300,000 total deaths by December, and a nearly 75% increase in hospitalizations.

Los Angeles Unified has announced plans to test its roughly 600,000 students and 75,000 employees as the nation’s second-largest school district prepares for the eventual return to in-person instruction.
The testing program is set to kick off Monday, with additional services to roll out as the school year continues.

The governor of the US state of Georgia, who has opposed local mask mandates previously, has signed a new executive order that allows local governments to enact mask requirements.

In the US an Arizona public school district was forced to cancel its plans to reopen on Monday after more than 100 teachers and other staff members called in sick.

The US Food and Drug Administration on Saturday granted emergency use authorization for Yale School of Public Health’s saliva test to detect Covid-19, after a trial on National Basketball Association players
and staff.

Thank you and kind regards,

Sebastian

Sebastian Molineus

Regional Director for the South Caucasus

Europe and Central Asia

T
+995 (32) 291 6238

M
+995 (577) 78 7821

M
+1 (202) 492-3914

E
[email-masked]

W
www.worldbank.org/en/region/eca

@smolineus

www.linkedin.com/in/molineus/

From: Sebastian-A Molineus

Sent: Wednesday, August 12, 2020 11:37 AM

To: Maya Tskitishvili <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked];
[email-masked]; [email-masked]' <[email-masked]>

Cc: Ekaterine Mikabadze <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked];
[email-masked]; Evgenij Najdov <[email-masked]>; Lire Ersado <[email-masked]>; Abdulaziz Faghi <[email-masked]>;
Jan Van Bilsen <[email-masked]>; [email-masked]' <[email-masked]>

Subject: RE: Our standing WB offer to support the government of Georgia during the COVID-19 crisis

Dear colleagues –

Am glad to be back in country following my summer vacation and look forward to seeing you soon.

Here is the latest WB COVID-19 update for the Europe and Central Asia region.  Please also find attached the weekly ECA COVID-19 Monitoring presentation with key indicators across the region.

EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA

Greece

Greece is “formally” in the midst of a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, one of the country’s top infectious disease experts said

Greece has confirmed at least 126 new coronavirus infections, pushing the country's total to 5,749 with at least 213 deaths.

According to the government, 17 of the new cases involved migrants in Lesbos, who arrived from Turkey.

Meanwhile, the country's culture ministry announced that for the next two weeks, the Museum of the Ancient Agora in Athens will be closed for disinfection, after one of its workers was tested positive of
the disease, also known as COVID-19.

Russia

Russian authorities confirmed 5,118 new coronavirus cases and 70 new deaths in the last 24 hours.

Russia has the fourth highest tally of COVID-19 cases worldwide.

Denmark

Denmark has seen a new spread of COVID-19 infections in the past week with the reproduction rate rising to 1.4.

In the past week, infections have been confirmed in 67 out of Denmark's 98 municipalities. The country's second-largest city, Aarhus, had the biggest number of new infections.

Meat giant Danish Crown announced Saturday it had closed a large slaughterhouse in Denmark after nearly 150 employees tested positive for the novel coronavirus. The abattoir in Ringsted, about 50 kilometers
(30 miles) from the capital Copenhagen, employs nearly 900 people and slaughters tens of thousands of pigs every week.

Denmark has reported a total of 14, 815 cases and 620 deaths so far.

UK

The UK government said 46,526 people had died in hospitals, care homes and the wider community after testing positive for coronavirus in the UK, as of 5pm on Sunday.

Britain's Heathrow Airport renewed its call for COVID-19 testing at airports as it reported an 88 percent plunge in July passenger numbers due to ongoing restrictions on travel which it said were strangling
the UK economy.

The British government is laying off 6,000 coronavirus contact tracers and deploying the rest to work in local teams, in an acknowledgment that the centralized track-and-trace system is not working well.

The British prime minister said reopening schools in September was a social, economic and moral imperative and insisted schools would be able to operate safely despite the coronavirus pandemic.

NORTH AMERICA

US

The total number of United States coronavirus deaths surged past 160,000 with more than 5 million confirmed infections across the country.

The US government is considering a measure to block US citizens and permanent residents from returning home if they are suspected of being infected with SARS-CoV-2. The draft regulation would give the
government authorization to block individuals who could "reasonably" be believed to have contracted COVID-19 or other diseases.

The number of new COVID-19 cases among children in the US rose 40 percent in the last two weeks of July, according to a report just weeks before tens of millions of American students are scheduled to begin
the new school year. The new report by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children's Hospital Association found that more than 338,000 children have tested positive for COVID-19 since the onset of the US epidemic, with 97,078 new cases reported in
the July 16-30 period.

United States Health Secretary said that any US vaccine or treatment for COVID-19 would be shared fairly with the rest of the world, once the US's needs have been satisfied.

Nearly 600 children have been admitted to US hospitals with a rare inflammatory syndrome associated with the novel coronavirus over four months during the peak of the pandemic, the CDC said in a report.
Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) is a rare but severe condition that shares symptoms with toxic shock syndrome and Kawasaki disease, including fever, rashes, swollen glands and, in severe cases, heart inflammation.

New cases in Arizona fell by more than 48% in the last week, and on 9 August the state reported fewer than 1,000 cases for the first time since 29 June.

The rate of community spread in Florida, California and Tennessee remained high, but they all reported fewer cases than in the previous week.

Nationally, the positivity rate for Covid-19 held steady at 8%. Mississippi and Texas had the highest positivity rates in the country at 21%. Only 15 states reported a positive rate under 5%, which is
the threshold that the WHO considers concerning because it suggests there are more cases in the community that have not yet been uncovered.

Kind regards,

Sebastian

Sebastian Molineus

Regional Director for the South Caucasus

Europe and Central Asia

T
+995 (32) 291 6238

M
+995 (577) 78 7821

M
+1 (202) 492-3914

E
[email-masked]

W
www.worldbank.org/en/region/eca

@smolineus

www.linkedin.com/in/molineus/

From: Sebastian-A Molineus

Sent: Thursday, August 06, 2020 4:44 PM

To: Maya Tskitishvili <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked];
[email-masked]; [email-masked]' <[email-masked]>

Cc: Ekaterine Mikabadze <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked];
[email-masked]; Evgenij Najdov <[email-masked]>; Lire Ersado <[email-masked]>; Abdulaziz Faghi <[email-masked]>;
Jan Van Bilsen <[email-masked]>; [email-masked]' <[email-masked]>

Subject: RE: Our standing WB offer to support the government of Georgia during the COVID-19 crisis

Dear colleagues –

Please find below the latest COVID-19 related updates/ responses and attached the weekly ECA COVID-19 Monitoring presentation with key indicators across the region, kindly prepared by the World Bank’s Human Development Practice Group.

Please also note that two attached slides that offer a landscape overview of vaccines.  As you will know, there is increased optimism that a vaccine may soon pass phase 3 (October is the current estimate) and so I would be happy to start
discussions on how best for the government to pre-order should there be interest from the government’s side.

EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA

France

France has reported 3,376 new confirmed COVID-19 cases over the last three days, the country’s health department said on Monday, while the number of people being treated in ICUs for the disease is creeping higher.

The seven-day moving average for new cases has held above the 1,000 threshold for the fifth day in a row, meaning the country is experiencing levels not seen since a two-month lockdown. France’s total number of cases now stands at 191,295.

Travelers entering France from 16 countries where the coronavirus is circulating widely now must undergo virus tests upon arrival at French airports and ports.

French Prime Minister announced last month that the tests would be required starting Aug. 1 for passengers France is allowing in from a list of approved countries unless they present proof of a negative test done within 72 hours of their departure.

Those who test positive in France as of Saturday must quarantine for 14 days.

Italy

Antibody testing in Italy indicates that nearly 1.5 million people, or about 2.5% of the population, have had the coronavirus. But officials said Monday that huge geographic variations in the results confirmed a nationwide lockdown was “absolutely crucial”
to preventing the country's south from getting slammed as badly as its north.

The Health Ministry and the national statistics agency based their assessment on tests performed May 25-July 15 on a sample of nearly 65,000 Italians selected for their location, age and type of work. The government carried out the testing to understand how
widely the virus circulated in the first country in the West to be overwhelmed by COVID-19, given that the bulk of confirmed cases and deaths occurred in northern Italy.

Russia

Russia is preparing to start a mass vaccination campaign against the coronavirus in October, the country’s government has claimed.

Health Minister said clinical trials of a coronavirus vaccine candidate from the Moscow-based Gamaleya Institute were complete and showed immune response in all subjects, with no side effects or complications.

Spain

The spread of COVID-19 continues to accelerate in post-lockdown Spain, with the Health Ministry detecting 8,532 new cases over the weekend.

The data, published on Monday, does not include complete updates from Madrid, Catalonia, and Navarra, some of the worst-hit areas, suggesting that the true number of people who tested positive over the weekend might be significantly higher.

Outbreaks among farm workers and young people desperate to resume socializing after being under lockdown, have led to a  spread across northern Spain, spawning a potential “second wave" of infections.

Turkey

Turkey's number of serious ill COVID-19 patients seems to be under control, Turkish health minister said on Sunday.

The COVID-19 cases increased by 987 in Turkey, raising the total diagnosed cases to 232,856.

Over the weekend, many Turkish citizens visited family members and popular tourism destinations amid festivities for the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha. Health officials are now closely monitoring COVID-19 cases, which they expect to rise after the nationwide
holiday travel and are calling for the enforcement of new precautions to limit the spread of the coronavirus.

NORTH AMERICA

US

The United States reported a record 1.87 million cases in July, more than twice the figure for the previous record month, April, when 860,000 new cases were reported.

U.S. deaths from COVID-19 rose for a fourth week in a row to more than 8,500 people in the seven days ended Aug. 2, while the number of new cases fell for a second straight week.

California, Florida and Texas collectively accounted for nearly 180,000 of the new cases, though new infections were lower in all three states compared to the previous week.

The United States is in a new phase of the coronavirus outbreak with infections “extraordinarily widespread” in rural areas as well as cities, White House coronavirus experts said on Sunday.

The governor of California has said that rates of new COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and intensive care unit admissions were all trending down in the state.

The positivity rate of testing in the US is 8.2% - higher than the 5% level that the WHO considers concerning because it suggests there are more cases in the community that have not yet been uncovered.

U.S. President on Monday signed an executive order expanding access to telehealth services for 57 million Americans in under-served rural areas and elsewhere, after virtual visits soared during the coronavirus
pandemic.

At least 14 members of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate - seven Republicans and seven Democrats - have tested positive or are presumed to have had COVID-19 since the novel coronavirus pandemic
began earlier this year.

Teachers and support staff at more than 35 school districts across the US are protesting against the reopening of schools while COVID-19 is surging in many parts of the country.

The US Treasury Department plans to borrow $947 billion to cover coronavirus impact. Congress has already allocated about $3 trillion for coronavirus-related economic aid so far.

Thank you and kind regards,

Sebastian

Sebastian Molineus

Regional Director for the South Caucasus

Europe and Central Asia

T
+995 (32) 291 6238

M
+995 (577) 78 7821

M
+1 (202) 492-3914

E
[email-masked]

W
www.worldbank.org/en/region/eca

@smolineus

www.linkedin.com/in/molineus/

From: Sebastian-A Molineus

Sent: Tuesday, July 14, 2020 11:41 AM

To: Maya Tskitishvili <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked];
[email-masked]; [email-masked]' <[email-masked]>; Mikheil Chkhenkeli <[email-masked]>

Cc: Ekaterine Mikabadze <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked];
[email-masked]; Evgenij Najdov <[email-masked]>; Lire Ersado <[email-masked]>; Abdulaziz Faghi <[email-masked]>;
Jan Van Bilsen <[email-masked]>; [email-masked]' <[email-masked]>

Subject: RE: Our standing WB offer to support the government of Georgia during the COVID-19 crisis

Dear colleagues - please find attached the latest COVID-19 related news for the Europe and Central Asia region.  I also attach the latest education sector brief and so copy Mikheil in for info.

EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA

Russia

Russia has reported 6,248 new cases of the novel coronavirus, pushing its confirmed national tally to 739,947, the fourth largest in the world.

Officials said 175 people had died in the last 24 hours, bringing the official death toll to 11,614.

A Russian institute developing one of the country’s potential coronavirus vaccines hopes to start its final stage testing in a small section of the general public in mid-August.

France

Coronavirus hospitalizations are declining in France. The Health ministry said the number of people in hospital with COVID-19, fell to 6,983 from 7,062 as of July 10, continuing a weeks-long
downtrend. The number of people in intensive care units was down to 492 from 496.

UK

Britain must start “intense preparations” for a second wave of coronavirus that has the potential to kill as many as 120,000 hospital patients in a worst case scenario,

experts have warned.

Face masks will become mandatory in shops across England, ministers are to announce on Tuesday, following mixed messages, a cabinet split and mounting pressure on the country’s prime minister Boris Johnson
to change public advice.

Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan will extend its second coronavirus lockdown by two weeks until the end of July and again offer financial aid to those who have lost their source of income.

Kazakhstan has reported a major resurgence in COVID-19 and pneumonia cases after lifting restrictions in May. The country has nearly 60,000 cases of COVID-19 with 375 deaths and reported
shortages of hospital beds and popular medicines. There are also reports of an outbreak of pneumonia, which the WHO says is on their "radar". The number of daily new cases fell to 1,646 on Monday from 1,798 on Sunday.

Kazakhstan held a national day of mourning for COVID-19 victims on Monday, flying flags at half-mast and cancelling entertainment programming on local media.

Neighbors Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan have also reported new spikes in COVID-19 cases after reopening at about the same time. Uzbekistan has also started a second lockdown while Kyrgyzstan
imposed more moderate control measures.

NORTH AMERICA

US

In response to sky rocketing cases,

California shut down businesses, and schools as the coronavirus outbreak grows.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Monday reported 3,296,599 cases of the coronavirus, an increase of 60,469 cases from its previous count, and said that the number of deaths
had risen by 312 to 134,884. A total of 22 states and New York City have reported more than 40,000 total cases, unchanged from Friday. States with some of the highest case counts include California with over 300,000 cases, Florida and Texas each with over
250,000, and New Jersey, New York City, New York State, and Illinois with at least 150,000 cases.

The US has reported approximately 60,000 new cases a day for almost a week.

Over the weekend, Florida broke a US state record of daily new cases, with over 15,200 new cases in a day, making it the single-largest increase in daily case counts reported by any state.

Kind regards,

Sebastian

Sebastian Molineus

Regional Director for the South Caucasus

Europe and Central Asia

T
+995 (32) 291 6238

M
+995 (577) 78 7821

M
+1 (202) 492-3914

E
[email-masked]

W
www.worldbank.org/en/region/eca

@smolineus

www.linkedin.com/in/molineus/

From: Sebastian-A Molineus

Sent: Friday, July 10, 2020 8:54 AM

To: Maya Tskitishvili <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked];
[email-masked]; [email-masked]' <[email-masked]>

Cc: Ekaterine Mikabadze <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked];
[email-masked]; Evgenij Najdov <[email-masked]>; Lire Ersado <[email-masked]>; Abdulaziz Faghi <[email-masked]>;
Jan Van Bilsen <[email-masked]>; [email-masked]' <[email-masked]>

Subject: RE: Our standing WB offer to support the government of Georgia during the COVID-19 crisis

Dear colleagues –

for your weekend reading pleasure
😉, please find attached a summary of a WB paper that concludes that lockdowns are associated with an ~10% drop in GDP, but that even without lockdowns economies suffer by a similar extent – and so in sum there is no trade-off between savings lives and
livelihoods!  Also, on average, countries that implemented lockdowns in the early stages of the pandemic are found to have better short-term economic outcomes and lower cumulative mortality.

https://voxeu.org/article/early-lockdowns-save-more-lives-and-livelihoods

Kind regards,

Sebastian

Sebastian Molineus

Regional Director for the South Caucasus

Europe and Central Asia

T
+995 (32) 291 6238

M
+995 (577) 78 7821

M
+1 (202) 492-3914

E
[email-masked]

W
www.worldbank.org/en/region/eca

@smolineus

www.linkedin.com/in/molineus/

From: Sebastian-A Molineus

Sent: Wednesday, July 8, 2020 8:25 AM

To: Maya Tskitishvili <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked];
[email-masked]; [email-masked]' <[email-masked]>

Cc: Ekaterine Mikabadze <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked];
[email-masked]; Evgenij Najdov <[email-masked]>; Lire Ersado <[email-masked]>; Abdulaziz Faghi <[email-masked]>;
Jan Van Bilsen <[email-masked]>; [email-masked]' <[email-masked]>

Subject: RE: Our standing WB offer to support the government of Georgia during the COVID-19 crisis

Dear colleagues –

please find attached and below this week’s WB update on country responses to the COVID-19 crisis.

For real time* updates:  https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6

*Please note there may be a lag in reporting.

EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA

United Kingdom

Britain will today unveil a mini-budget to kickstart the UK economy, hoping infrastructure investment will help build its way out of the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Finance minister Rishi Sunak is due to deliver his spending plans at 1130 GMT, having
already flagged £3 billion (US$3.7 billion, €3.3bn) of green investment.

Scientists warn of a potential wave of COVID-19 related brain damage. A study by researchers at University College London (UCL) described 43 cases of patients with COVID-19 who suffered either temporary brain dysfunction, strokes, nerve damage or other serious
brain effects. The study found nine of the patients were diagnosed with a rare condition called acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM), which is usually seen in children and can be triggered by viral infections.

Serbia

A group of opposition supporters stormed the Serbian parliament on Tuesday night in a protest against plans to impose a lockdown on the capital.

Germany

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 397 in the last 24 hours and the death toll has risen by 12.

Although the Gütersloh lockdown has been lifted after German court ruling, the n slaughterhouse and meat packing plant at the centre of COVID-19 outbreak won’t be allowed to reopen until authorities are satisfied with its hygiene procedures.

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)

Update, Tuesday, July 7, 2020 (data as of 9 p)

Outbreak first reported: 12/31/2019

Days since first report: 172

Days since last report: 1 d

58.7 percent of all new COVID-19 cases are reported in IBRD countries, 6.8 percent in IDA countries and 34.5 percent in high-income countries. Likewise, 80.7 percent of all COVID-19 deaths since
the last report are reported in IBRD countries, 7.4 percent in IDA countries and 11.9 percent in high-income countries.

Global and Regional Headlines

Nearly 11.8 million people around the world have now been diagnosed with COVID-19, and more than 543,595 have died. Top five countries: United States (more than 2.99 million), Brazil (over 1.66 million), India (over
719,000), Russia (over 693,000), Peru (over 309,000).

The United States has officially notified the United Nations Secretary-General of the country's withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO).

The Brazilian President tested positive for SARS-CoV-2.  Brazil is one of the countries worst affected by COVID-19.

Biotech firm Novavax gets $1.6 billion in US Federal funding for vaccine development.

WHO officials are worried about growing outbreaks in Latin America.

The World Health Organization on Tuesday acknowledged “evidence emerging” of the airborne spread of the coronavirus.

UNAIDS expressed concern that the continuation of severe disruptions from COVID-19 response measures has the potential to push up the AIDS death rate to a 72 percent increase on the estimated 690 000 HIV-related deaths
globally in 2019.

Emerging evidence in a study by University College London (UCL) suggests COVID-19 may lead to severe neurological complications, including inflammation, psychosis and delirium.

In a new report ‘Preventing the
next pandemic - Zoonotic diseases and how to break the chain of transmission’, the
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) highlight the rising trend of zoonotic diseases and how rising demand
for wild meat, environmental destruction and unsustainable farming could lead to more pandemics like COVID-19. The report identifies One health as an optimal approach to prevent and respond to future pandemics.

WHO released interim
guidance
on ‘Investing in and building longer-term health emergency preparedness during COVID-19 pandemic’ to help countries link COVID-19 response actions to improve national medium- to long-term preparedness and  International Health Regulations (IHR) core capacities
to respond to future threats.

Countries with the highest number of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases by region (Total cases / Total Deaths)

AFRICA – South Africa (215,855/3,502); Nigeria (29,789/669); Ghana (21,968/129); Cameroon (14,916/359); Cote D'Ivoire (11,194/76); Sudan
(9,997/622); Kenya (8,250/167); Senegal (7,547/137)

EAST ASIA PACIFIC – China (84,917/4,641); Indonesia (66,226/3,309);  Philippines (47,873/1,309); Singapore (45,140/26); Japan (20,054/980);
South Korea (13,244/285)

EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA – Russia (693,215/10,478); UK (287,874/44,476); Spain (252,130/28,392); Italy (241,956/34,899); Turkey (207,897/5,260);
Germany (198,343/9,032)

LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN – Brazil (1,668,589/66,741); Peru (309,278/10,952); Chile (301,019/6,434); Mexico (268,008/32,014); Colombia
(120,431/4,452); Argentina (83,426/1,644)

MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA
– Iran (245,688/11,931); Saudi Arabia (217,108/2,017); Qatar (100,945/134); Egypt (77,279/3,489); Iraq (64,701/2,685); UAE (52,600/326)

SOUTH ASIA – India (719,665/20,160); Pakistan (234,509/4,839); Bangladesh (168,645/2,151); Nepal (16,168/35); Afghanistan (33,384/920);
Sri Lanka (2,081/11)

USA – (2,994,223/131,626)

Source: The case and death data is collected from: WHO
situation reports; and John
Hopkins University (JHU);  there may be some inflation of cases due to potential double counting between the two sources’ countries and their respective territories; WHO delineates
cases and deaths by each territory, while JHU does this only for some.

AFRICA

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has said that 49 million Africans could be pushed into extreme poverty by the COVID-19 pandemic.  The AfDB forecasts a 3.4% contraction in gross domestic product in 2020. The economy
is projected to rebound from the pandemic slump in 2021,
but it could still lose nearly $173.1–$236.7 billion in economic output in 2020 and 2021. A rebound is threatened by risks including a potentially worsening pandemic, subdued commodity prices, volatile global financial conditions and even natural disasters
such as the locust infestations that have ravaged East Africa this year.

As of July 7, the confirmed cases of COVID-19 from 55 African countries have reached nearly half million. Reported deaths in Africa have reached crossed 11,650.

The United Nations Security Council has unanimously passed a resolution demanding an immediate 90 days' cessation of hostilities in conflict zones due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this would include conflict zones in South
Sudan, Yemen, Libya and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Kenya

Schools in Kenya will not re-open until 2021 due to fears of COVID-19 infections which has started taking toll in the country.

As Kenya enters phased easing of lockdown,
the government faces protest on limiting the
criteria for the phased reopening of places of worship. At this point number of worshippers per service are limited to 100.

Kenya has recorded 183 positive coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, bringing the total tally of confirmed cases to 8, 250.

DRC

Health workers responding to the coronavirus outbreak in Kinshasa have cut their services to a minimum in protest against unpaid bonuses. The partial strike, which began on Friday, is taking place in the capital Kinshasa,
where the vast majority of DRC’s 7,660 confirmed cases have been recorded, and two neighboring provinces.

Uganda

Boda boda operators yesterday sued government for not allowing them resume passenger transport. Through their association, the National Federation of Professional Cyclists Network (NFPC), the boda boda riders state
that government is acting in a discriminatory manner by allowing other businesses, particularly other public transport service providers, to reopen and yet stop them from carrying passengers.

Angola

At least 33 new positive cases of covid-19 and two deaths have been detected in the last 24 hours in Angola, bringing the total in the country to 386 and 21 respectively

Zimbabwe

Thirteen nurses were arrested yesterday in Harare for violating Covid-19 lockdown regulations relating to social distancing. The nurses were demonstrating against working conditions, complaining that they do not have
adequate protective gear to safely treat COVID-19 patients. Many nurses working in public hospitals stopped reporting for work in mid-June.

EAST ASIA AND PACIFIC

China

China is forging ahead in the race to develop a vaccine to help control the COVID-19 pandemic, with Sinovac Biotech’s experimental vaccine set to become the country’s second and the world’s third to enter final stage
testing later this month.

WHO is sending a team into China to investigate the origin of the Covid-19 disease.

South Korea

Three hundred drones took to the evening sky over the Han River in South Korea to dispense coronavirus prevention advice through a synchronized light display featuring images of hand-washing and social distancing.

Japan

Supercomputer-driven models simulated in Japan suggested that operating commuter trains with windows open and limiting the number of passengers may help reduce the risk of coronavirus infections, as scientists warn
of airborne spread of the virus.

Australia

The Australian state of Victoria has confirmed 134 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, as its borders were closed, and it moved to impose a six-week lockdown in Melbourne – a city of five million.

Panic buying has hit supermarkets in Melbourne and Victoria again in advance of the six-week lockdown that comes into force in a few hours’ time. Woolworths - Australia's biggest grocery chain - has already reinstated
buying limits for basics, including pasta, sugar and toilet paper.

Nearly two dozen healthcare workers and patients have been diagnosed with COVID-19 in recent weeks in Victoria.

Australia’s coronavirus emergency cabinet will consider limiting the number of its citizens and residents returning home from overseas to reduce the risk of importation of COVID-19 cases.

Malaysia

Malaysian budget carrier AirAsia’s future is in “significant doubt” due to the collapse in demand for air travel caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Malaysia reported six new COVID-19 infections on Tuesday, pushing the national total to 8,674 cases.

Malaysia and Singapore are in a dialogue to discuss the reopening of their borders. A firm decision is expected by early August.

Fiji

Three new cases this week, bringing the total to 21, with no deaths. The cases have been linked to a repatriation flight from India on 1 July. A Fijian citizen died on the same flight, having suffered breathing difficulties.
Authorities have not counted this as a fatality in Fiji.

Estimates suggest that nearly half of all Fijians are facing “severe” financial distress. A major resort in Fiji has announced that nearly 500 staff will be made redundant as of next month.

Solomon Islands

Independence Day celebrations on 7 July were cancelled because of the ongoing state of emergency.

EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA

United Kingdom

Britain will today unveil a mini-budget to kickstart the UK economy, hoping infrastructure investment will help build its way out of the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Finance minister Rishi Sunak is due to
deliver his spending plans at 1130 GMT, having already flagged £3 billion (US$3.7 billion, €3.3bn) of green investment.

Scientists warn of a potential wave of COVID-19 related brain damage. A study by researchers at University College London (UCL) described 43 cases of patients with COVID-19 who suffered either temporary brain dysfunction,
strokes, nerve damage or other serious brain effects. The study found nine of the patients were diagnosed with a rare condition called acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM), which is usually seen in children and can be triggered by viral infections.

Serbia

A group of opposition supporters stormed the Serbian parliament on Tuesday night in a protest against plans to impose a lockdown on the capital.

Germany

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 397 in the last 24 hours and the death toll has risen by 12.

Although the
Gütersloh lockdown has been lifted after German court ruling, the n slaughterhouse and meat packing plant at the centre of COVID-19 outbreak won’t be allowed to reopen until authorities are satisfied with its hygiene procedures.

LATIN AMERICA & THE CARIBBEAN

Brazil

The Brazilian President tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday, shortly after the presidential palace said he had been displaying symptoms associated with the disease.

Brazil has recorded another 1,312 deaths and more than 48,000 new cases. Brazil’s total death tally is nearly 67,000, with 1.67 million confirmed cases.

Mexico

Mexico has reported 6,258 new confirmed coronavirus infections and 895 additional fatalities, bringing the total in the country to 268,008 cases and 32,014 deaths.

MIDDLE-EAST & NORTH AFRICA

Israel

Israel’s public health director has quit amid a spike in new COVID-19 cases, saying the country had been too hasty to reopen its economy and had lost its way in dealing with the pandemic.

Iran

Iran has recorded its highest number of deaths from COVID-19 within a 24-hour period. The 200 deaths reported on Tuesday exceed the previous record from Sunday, when the ministry reported 163 deaths in a day.

SOUTH ASIA

India

People under 30 in India have been badly hit by job losses due to COVID-19, eroding one of India's key economic advantages. About 41 percent of people aged between 15-29 were unemployed in May, according to data compiled
by the Centre for Monitoring the Indian Economy (CMIE). That is an increase of 17.3 percent in 2018-19. An estimated 27 million people between the ages of 20 and 30 lost their jobs in April, the CMIE says. Young people are also overrepresented in sectors like
retail, hospitality and tourism, which have been badly hit by policies enforcing social distancing.

India has reported a spike of 22,752 Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, taking the country's coronavirus tally to over 7,40,000.

Pakistan

Pakistan reported 2,980 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, taking the total tally to 237,489. According to the Ministry of National Health Services, the death toll from the virus reached 4,922 after 83 more
deaths were reported from the country. Another 2,236 patients were in critical condition.

The authorities have so far conducted 1,467,104 tests, including 21, 951 tests in the last 24 hours.

NORTH AMERICA

United States of America

The U.S. coronavirus outbreak crossed a grim milestone of over 3 million confirmed cases on Tuesday as more states reported record numbers of new infections, and Florida faced an impending shortage of intensive care
unit hospital beds.

More than 25% of the total number of new cases reported worldwide came from the U.S., according to the WHO’s data.

Georgia surpassed 100,000 reported coronavirus cases, becoming the ninth state to pass the mark.

In California, the number of hospitalizations across the state were at an all-time high and the virus positivity rate jumped more than 2% in Los Angeles. Nearly 6,000 coronavirus patients are hospitalized in California
- the highest number since the pandemic began - and the state is seeing a record number of Covid-19 patients in ICUs. California is only one of several states that are reporting record numbers of hospitalizations. Medical facilities in Florida, Texas, Mississippi,
Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina are being overrun by the surge of cases.

At least 56 intensive care units in Florida hospitals reached capacity on Tuesday. Another 35 hospitals show ICU bed availability of 10% or less, according to the Agency for Health Care Administration, raising concerns
tht the State is close to running out of intensive care beds.

MOBILITY

The State Fair of Texas, America’s largest and longest-running fair will skip the 2020 season, its first cancellation since World War II, amid the uptick in coronavirus cases.

New York added additional three states to the quarantine requirement for 14 days amid the OCIVD-19 pandemic. The three additional states are Delaware, Kansas and Oklahoma.

The Downtown Disney District in Anaheim, California will open on July 9, despite Disneyland not yet having a reopening date.

VACCINES, THERAPEUTICS, AND DIAGNOSTICS

Vaccine.
The US government has awarded Novavax Inc $1.6 billion to cover testing, commercialization and manufacturing of a potential coronavirus vaccine in the United States,
with the aim of delivering 100 million doses by January 2021.
The award is the biggest yet from “Operation Warp Speed”.

Vaccine.
Johnson and Johnson and Maryland-based CDMO Emergent BioSolutions inked a five-year work order worth at least $480 million to help produce the New Jersey-based
drug makers COVID-19 vaccine candidate, Emergent said in a release.

Treatment.
German health minister
had discussed the Covid-19 antiviral drug remdesivir with US health secretary and drug firm Gilead to secure production in the EU.
The EU Commission also held ‘constructive’ talks with the Gilead regarding the production capacity and access to remdesivir treatments for EU member states

Diagnostics.
FDA has granted emergency use authorization to a test from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention designed to determine if a patient is infected
with influenza or the novel coronavirus. The authorization comes five months after CDC became the first organization to receive an EUA for a coronavirus test.

ECONOMIC IMPACT

Denim maker Levi Strauss & Co.’s sales fell 62% during the second quarter, the company announced Tuesday. It also announced it will be slashing about 15% of its global corporate workforce, impacting about 700 jobs.

Orders for infrastructure materials and equipment have helped industrial output recover faster in China than most places emerging from COVID-19 lockdowns, but further expansion will be hard to attain without stronger
broad-based demand and exports.

US hiring surged to a record high in May and layoffs fell as businesses reopened, but the improvement in the labor market is likely to be blunted by a resurgence in COVID-19 cases that has forced some enterprises to
shut down again. The report followed on the heels of news on Friday that the economy created a record 4.8 million jobs in June. But the upswing in hiring has been overtaken by record spikes in new COVID-19 infections in large parts of the country, which have
forced several jurisdictions to scale back or pause reopening and send some workers back home. Even with the record hiring over the past two months, employment is 14.7 million jobs below its pre-pandemic level.

Canadian purchasing activity expanded in June for the first time in four months, according to Ivey Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) data released on Tuesday, providing another sign of economic recovery from the COVID-19
pandemic crisis.

Mexico’s auto production and exports picked up steam in June from a month earlier, as carmakers reopened plants from their coronavirus-induced shutdown. Production jumped nearly 11-fold in June to 238,946 units, from
22,119 units in May.

The euro zone economy will drop deeper into recession this year and rebound less steeply in 2021 than previously thought, the European Commission forecast on Tuesday, with France, Italy and Spain struggling the most
due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Five more U.S. airlines — Delta, United, JetBlue, Southwest and Alaska — have reached agreements with the Treasury Department over the terms for billions in federal loans aimed at helping them weather the impact of
COVID-19. Five other airlines, including American, already reached agreements, the Treasury Department said last week. The $2.2 trillion CARES Act set aside $25 billion in loans for U.S. passenger airlines. Carriers also received $25 billion in payroll support
that requires them to keep employees paid through Sept. 30.

Economic activity fell in every US state in the first three months of the year as the pandemic brought activity to halt, according to government data. The U.S. gross domestic product — the broadest measure of the nation’s
economy — contracted by 5%.

From: Sebastian-A Molineus

Sent: Wednesday, July 1, 2020 11:02 AM

To: Maya Tskitishvili <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked];
[email-masked]; [email-masked]

Cc: Ekaterine Mikabadze <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked];
[email-masked]; Evgenij Najdov <[email-masked]>; Lire Ersado <[email-masked]>; Abdulaziz Faghi <[email-masked]>;
Jan Van Bilsen <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked]

Subject: RE: Our standing WB offer to support the government of Georgia during the COVID-19 crisis

Dear colleagues - please find below our weekly update on COVID-19 policy responses across the Europe and Central Asia region.

All countries and territories affected (cases/deaths):*  Albania (2,535/62); Andorra (855/52); Armenia (25,542/443); Austria (17,766/705); Azerbaijan (17,524/213); Belarus (62,118/392); Belgium (61,427/9,747); Bosnia and Herzegovina (4,453/186);
Bulgaria (4,831/223); Croatia (2,777/107); Cyprus (998/19); Czech Republic (11,895/349); Denmark (12,968/605); Estonia (1,989/69); Faroe Islands (187/0); Finland (7,214/328); France (202,063/29,846); Georgia (928/15); Germany (195,418/8,990); Gibraltar (177/0);
Greece (3,409/192); Greenland (13/0); Holy See (12/0); Hungary (4,155/585); Iceland (1,842/10); Ireland (25,473/1,736); Isle of Man (336/24); Italy (240,578/34,767); Jersey (319/31); Kazakhstan (21,819/188); Kosovo (2,799/49); Kyrgyzstan (5,296/57); Latvia
(1,118/30); Liechtenstein (83/1); Lithuania (1,817/78); Luxembourg (4,299/110); Malta (670/9); Moldova (16,613/545); Monaco (103/5); Montenegro (548/12); Netherlands (50,483/6,132); North Macedonia (6,334/302); Norway (8,879/250); Poland (34,393/1,463); Portugal
(42,141/1,576); Romania (26,970/1,651); Russia (647,849/9,320); San Marino (713/42); Serbia (14,564/277); Slovakia (1,667/28); Slovenia (1,600/111); Spain (249,271/28,355); Sweden (68,451/5,333); Switzerland (31,714/1,963); Tajikistan (5,900/52); Turkey (199,906/5,131);
Ukraine (45,254/1,173); United Kingdom (314,159/43,815); United States (2,620,250/127,272); Uzbekistan (8,385/26)

For real time* updates:  https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6

*Please note there may be a lag in reporting.

Country Response

Germany

The state of Bavaria approved plans on Tuesday for universal testing for COVID-19, prompting debate elsewhere in Germany about whether to follow suit or stick with the current targeted approach to prevent
a possible second wave of infections

Italy

A study of coronavirus infections that covered almost everyone in the quarantined north Italian town of Vò found that 40% of cases showed no symptoms - suggesting that asymptomatic cases are important
in the spread of the pandemic; the study, led by a scientist at Italy’s Padua University and Imperial College London, also produced evidence that mass testing combined with case isolation and community lockdowns can stop local outbreaks swiftly

Russia

Russia on Tuesday reported 6,693 new cases of the novel coronavirus, taking its nationwide tally to 647,849; 154 more people had died, bringing the official death toll to 9,320

Spain

Spain will only open its borders with Morocco if there is a reciprocal agreement to let people travelling via Spain enter the Morocco, Spanish government said on Tuesday

Thousands of taxi drivers took to the streets of Madrid on Tuesday, honking their horns and clogging up the roads around city hall to demand a limit on the number of vehicles allowed to operate amid a
post-lockdown slump in demand

Health workers in scrubs and face masks gathered in central Madrid’s Puerta del Sol Square on Monday, demanding better terms for work in a system that was overwhelmed by one of the world’s worst outbreaks
of the coronavirus

Spanish official statistics show that the country's gross domestic product contracted 5.2 percent during the first three months of the year compared to the previous quarter, the biggest drop in at least
half a century

United Kingdom

Britain has imposed a stringent lockdown on the English city of Leicester following a local flare-up of the novel coronavirus, overshadowing the government’s attempts to nudge the country back to normality

PM promised to shake Britain’s economy out of its coronavirus-induced crisis on Tuesday by fast-tracking infrastructure investment and slashing property planning rules; he also unveiled new planning rules
on Tuesday to boost the number of homes and allow commercial premises to be repurposed more easily, part of a package to spur the coronavirus-hit economy

Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan has imposed an overnight curfew in some parts of the country, including the capital Tashkent, as it seeks to curb a fresh rise in COVID-19 infections following the gradual lifting of a two-month
lockdown; the new restrictions will see residents of “red” and “yellow” areas deemed at higher risk barred from leaving their homes between 11 PM and 7 AM except for medical emergencies, the government said on Tuesday; large shopping malls and markets will
also be closed on weekends across the country

United States

The United States saw a 46% increase in new cases of COVID-19 in the week ended June 28 compared to the previous seven days, with 21 states reporting positivity test rates above the level that the WHO
has flagged as concerning; nationally, 7% of diagnostic tests came back positive last week, up from 5% the prior week, according to an analysis from Reuters

People arriving in New York from an additional eight states must quarantine themselves for 14 days amid the coronavirus pandemic, New York Governor ordered on Tuesday; the eight additional states are
California, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada and Tennessee, all of which are contending with growing caseloads

Los Angeles is to close its beaches for the July 4 holiday weekend after reporting a record one-day rise in cases

The governor of the state of Arizona has told bars, cinemas, gyms, water parks and nightclubs they have to close again; he says the closures are necessary after coronavirus cases and hospitalizations
reached new highs over the weekend, and he expects the numbers to get worse

U.S. Treasury Secretary on Tuesday said up to $140 billion in possible small business loans could be refocused to support restaurants, hotels and other industries hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic;
the remaining funds authorized for the Paycheck Protection Program are due to expire on Tuesday, when the Small Business Administration stops taking applications for the forgivable loans

An asylum seeker has tested positive for coronavirus in a sprawling encampment steps from the U.S. border in Matamoros, Mexico, underscoring the challenges migrants face in protecting themselves from
the pandemic

Scammers are posing as COVID-19 contact tracers as a way to steal personal information, three major U.S. government agencies have said, describing "rapidly evolving" fraud related to the pandemic; the
U.S. Department of Justice, Department of Health and Human Services and Federal Trade Commission warned that fake contact tracers were asking for money and trying to collect social security numbers, bank and credit card information from individuals

WHO

The toll from COVID-19 could rise to 438,000 deaths in Latin America by October if prevention measures are not kept up, the WHO’s regional director for the Americas said on Tuesday

European Union

The European Union has excluded the United States from its initial “safe list” of countries from which the bloc will allow non-essential travel from Wednesday; the 27-member bloc gave approval on Tuesday
to leisure or business travel from 14 countries beyond its borders, the Council of the EU said in a statement; the “safe” countries are Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia
and Uruguay; in addition, China would be included if it reciprocated by allowing in EU travelers

The European Central Bank can adjust its COVID-19 crisis measures depending on how financial markets adapt to what is likely to be a slow economic recovery from the pandemic, one of the bank’s top policymakers
said on Tuesday

UN

The coronavirus pandemic is reversing progress on ending child marriage and female genital mutilation (FGM), jeopardizing the futures of millions of girls, a senior UN official has said

A UN agency agreed on Tuesday to change a landmark aviation emissions scheme, in a boost for airlines who said they could face billions of dollars in higher offsetting costs under the current deal when
air travel recovers from the coronavirus

Kind regards,

Sebastian

Sebastian Molineus

Regional Director for the South Caucasus

Europe and Central Asia

T
+995 (32) 291 6238

M
+995 (577) 78 7821

M
+1 (202) 492-3914

E
[email-masked]

W
www.worldbank.org/en/region/eca

@smolineus

www.linkedin.com/in/molineus/

From: Sebastian-A Molineus

Sent: Thursday, June 18, 2020 2:59 PM

To: Maya Tskitishvili <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked];
[email-masked]; [email-masked]

Cc: Ekaterine Mikabadze <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked];
[email-masked]; Evgenij Najdov <[email-masked]>; Lire Ersado <[email-masked]>; Abdulaziz Faghi <[email-masked]>;
Jan Van Bilsen <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked]

Subject: RE: Our standing WB offer to support the government of Georgia during the COVID-19 crisis

Dear colleagues - please find attached and below this week’s World Bank COVID-19 update.  I also attach a document with three short articles I believe could be of interest as they can help inform policy moving forward.   Just out of curiosity:
could you advise on what the R0 factor is in Georgia today?  Also, is there any news on entry policies into Georgia for tourists and diplomatic corps members as of July 1?  Many thanks and best regards, Sebastian

Steroid drug hailed as 'breakthrough' for seriously ill COVID-19 patients

Reuters

A cheap and widely used steroid called dexamethasone has become the first drug shown to be able to save the lives of COVID-19 patients in what scientists said is a “major breakthrough” in the coronavirus pandemic.

How Exactly Do You Catch Covid-19? There Is a Growing Consensus

The Wall Street Journal

Six months into the coronavirus crisis, there's a growing consensus about a central question: How do people become infected? It's not common to contract Covid-19 from a contaminated surface, scientists say. And fleeting encounters with people outdoors are unlikely
to spread the coronavirus. Instead, the major culprit is close-up, person-to-person interactions for extended periods.

Comment: How Covid-19 will change the world

Financial Times by Martin Wolf

In less than six months, Covid-19 has transformed the world. But what might its impact ultimately be? Our ignorance on this is quite comprehensive. But it is far from absolute. So let us take stock

WB COVID-19 country update:

All countries and territories affected (cases/deaths):*  Albania (1,722/38); Andorra (854/52); Armenia (18,033/302); Austria (17,203/687); Azerbaijan (10,991/133); Belarus (56,032/324); Belgium (60,244/9,675); Bosnia and Herzegovina (3,141/168);
Bulgaria (3,542/184); Croatia (2,258/107); Czech Republic (10,154/333); Denmark (12,494/598); Estonia (1,977/69; Finland (7,117/326); France (194,805/29,578); Georgia (888/14); Germany (188,604/8,851); Greece (3,203/187); Greenland (13/0); Holy See (12/0);
Hungary (4,078/567); Iceland (1,815/10); Ireland (25,341/1,710); Isle of Man (336/24); Italy (237,828/34,448); Jersey (316/30); Kazakhstan (15,542/97); Kosovo (1,713/33); Kyrgyzstan (2,562/30); Latvia (1,104/30); Liechtenstein (83/1); Lithuania (1,778/76);
Luxembourg (4,085/110); Malta (662/9); Moldova (12,732/433); Monaco (99/5); Montenegro (333/9); Netherlands (49,412/6,093); North Macedonia (4,482/210); Norway (8,680/243); Poland (30,701/1,286); Portugal (37,672/1,523); Romania (22,760/1,451); Russia (553,301/7,478);
San Marino (696/42); Serbia (12,522/257); Slovakia (1,561/28); Slovenia (1,509/109); Spain (244,683/29,858); Sweden (54,562/5,041); Switzerland (31,183/1,956); Tajikistan (5,221/51); Turkey (182,727/4,861); Ukraine (33,986/953); United Kingdom (300,717/42,238);
United States (2,157,768/117,622); Uzbekistan (5,682/19)

For real time* updates:  https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6

*Please note there may be a lag in reporting.

Country Response

Czech Republic

•             Members of Prague City Council are self-isolating after one of the deputy mayors tested positive for Covid-19; the council had been holding virtual meetings, but it voted to return to in-person meetings; now all 11 members
will have to quarantine following Monday’s seven-hour council session, and several City Assembly members are also being tested

Denmark

•             Mink at a farm in Denmark were found to be infected with the new coronavirus and the whole stock would now be culled; the outbreak among minks is the first in Denmark but comes shortly after 10 mink farms in the Netherlands
were ordered culled after some animals tested positive for the disease

France

•             France hopes to reach an agreement with the 26 other members of the European Union on a proposed €750bn recovery fund in July, a presidential adviser has said ahead of videoconference between EU leaders on Friday

Germany

•             More than 300 households in the Berlin district of Neukoelln have been placed into quarantine, after 57 new infections were recorded

•             A large German meat processing plant has been hit by an outbreak of coronavirus; 400 new infections of employees at Toennies meat production in the nearby Rheda-Wiedenbrueck plant have been registered

•             Germany is to extend the ban on big gatherings, such as festivals and fairs, to avoid another wave of Covid-19 infections

•             Berlin is planning for schools to return to normal operations after the summer holidays, although recommendations for social distancing and mask-wearing in shops and on public transport will stay

•             Germany's smartphone app to help trace coronavirus infections has been downloaded 6.5 million times in the first 24 hours since its launch

•             Germany’s health ministry announced that there is no reason to stockpile the generic steroid drug dexamethasone

Italy

•             Italy’s nursing homes, where the COVID-19 epidemic is believed to have killed thousands of people, did not have the equipment needed to protect staff or residents, a survey by the country’s top health body shows

•             After three months of empty squares and alleys, and gondoliers stranded on dry land, Venice is welcoming tourists back to the city

Norway

•             Chinese and Norwegian authorities have concluded that Norwegian salmon was likely not the source of the novel coronavirus that was found at cutting boards in a Beijing food market

Portugal

•             Portugal's parliament approved in the first reading a supplementary budget that increases spending by 4.3 billion euros ($4.8 billion) to help the coronavirus-battered economy

Kazakhstan

•             The speaker of the lower house of Kazakhstan's parliament is the latest politician to test positive for coronavirus; he met the country's healthcare minister last week before the minister was diagnosed with COVID-19 and admitted
to hospital with pneumonia

•             Over the past week authorities have once again tightened restrictions such as the working hours of shops and public transport in most of the provinces, citing accelerating spread rates of the virus

Russia

•             Russia says that new coronavirus cases are at their lowest since April 30

•             Russia already uses dexamethasone to treat patients with the novel coronavirus, but does not view it as a panacea against COVID-19

•             A group of Azeris clashed with Russian riot police after learning that not all of them would be allowed to return to Azerbaijan; according to Russian investigators around 400 people "used violence" against police and border
guards, trying to block a major highway and throwing stones at the security forces; at least nine police officers were lightly injured

Serbia

•             More than 2,200 residents of Loznica, in western Serbia, were forced to spend nearly a month in self-isolation after they crossed the border to buy petrol in neighboring Bosnia and Herzegovina; since March, Serbia has required
all residents re-entering to undergo 14 or 28 days of self-isolation

Spain

•             Spanish Prime Minister has announced a state ceremony will be held on July 16 to honor more than 27,000 people who have died in the pandemic

Sweden

•             Deaths in Sweden from COVID-19 passed 5,000, the Public Health Agency said, far more than in neighboring Nordic countries; Sweden has taken a softer approach to fighting the coronavirus, leaving most schools, shops and restaurants
open and relying on voluntary measures focused on social distancing and good hygiene

•             Deaths in Sweden has been far higher relative to the size of the population than in Denmark, Norway and Finland, where authorities have taken a stricter approach; but they have been lower than in Britain, Italy and Spain,
where there have also been lockdowns

•             Sweden will lift its advice against non-essential travel to 10 European countries from 30 June; the countries are Greece, Croatia, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Slovenia, France, Iceland, Belgium, Switzerland and Luxembourg; for
other European countries – including the UK as well as neighboring Denmark, Norway and Finland – the advice against non-essential travel will still apply

Turkey

•             Turkey reportedly may need to adopt a harder line on social interactions following a jump in coronavirus infections; this month restaurants and cafes reopened, intercity flights and car travel resumed and weekend stay-at-home
orders were lifted; however, new COVID-19 cases have roughly doubled to 1,600 a day since June 1

United Kingdom

•
Britain has increased the amount of dexamethasone it has in stock and on order to 240,000 doses

•
London's mayor has announced he will take a 10 percent pay cut due to a budget crisis caused by the coronavirus outbreak, as he urged the government to help UK's stretched local authorities; the Mayor said the capital faces a budget
shortfall of nearly £500m ($628m) over the next two years because of an "unprecedented" income loss from the crisis

•
Annual inflation rate slid to 0.5 percent in May, remaining at a near four-year low as the country's coronavirus lockdown dampened prices

•
The English Premier League is set to kick off behind closed doors and under strict restrictions exactly 100 days after its season was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic

•
A UK health official says the country's coronavirus contact tracing app will be now ready "before the winter"

Kind regards,

Sebastian

Sebastian Molineus

Regional Director for the South Caucasus

Europe and Central Asia

T
+995 (32) 291 6238

M
+995 (577) 78 7821

M
+1 (202) 492-3914

E
[email-masked]

W
www.worldbank.org/en/region/eca

@smolineus

www.linkedin.com/in/molineus/

From: Sebastian-A Molineus

Sent: Sunday, June 14, 2020 10:28 PM

To: Maya Tskitishvili <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked];
[email-masked]; [email-masked]

Cc: Ekaterine Mikabadze <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked];
[email-masked]; Evgenij Najdov <[email-masked]>; Lire Ersado <[email-masked]>; Abdulaziz Faghi <[email-masked]>;
Jan Van Bilsen <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked]

Subject: RE: Our standing WB offer to support the government of Georgia during the COVID-19 crisis

Dear colleagues –

below (and attached) you will find an update of global social protection measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Indeed, a lot happened since v.10, including measures now reaching 4-digits across nearly the whole planet; in kind and cash-based social safety nets cover 1.6B people; 72% of social assistance is ongoing as we speak, with the rest being
planned or ended; cash transfers tend to be short-term and generous in provision (+93% relative to pre-C19 levels)… and have been scaled by over 230%, with about 15% of the world’s population (but only 2% in Africa) receiving at least one Covid-related cash
payment; 21 programs tackle urban vulnerabilities, while 70 measures are emerging in fragile states; social protection spending is nearly $600B, but only $1/person in low-income countries; and much, much more….

After nearly 3 months since version 1 of this paper was released, the number of countries and territories as well as social protection measures continue to climb. Since March 20, the number
of countries quadrupled, while measures soared almost tenfold. Currently, 195 countries/territories have planned or introduced social protection measures in response to Covid-19. While this review’s version 11 will later provide a fresh look at which measures
are planned, ongoing and ended, our repository of country actions now reached the four-digit milestone of 1024 measures.

Social assistance accounts for most of the social protection response. A total of 621 measures were recorded, accounting for 60% of the response. Nearly 50% of those safety net measures, and about 30% of global measures, are
various forms of cash-based transfers. Besides 271 targeted cash transfer programs in 131 countries, interventions include 6 universal transfers, 5 of which one-off, and a robust number (25) of social pension schemes. In-kind transfers are also substantial,
with 23% of the social assistance portfolio including the distribution of food commodities, vouchers and school feeding programs. Both in-kind transfers and cash have bene growing steadily over time. Finally, 14 public works programs are present in 11 countries.

Overall, social assistance continues to be adapted to the crisis in 3 ways. A total of 63 programs in 47 countries have adapted their administrative systems to make it easier for people to access programs, including advance
payments waiving conditionalities, remote applications, etc. More generous transfers are provided for 75 programs in 54 countries, both in terms of higher transfer levels and extra payment cycles. Scale-up of program coverage is occurring in 167 countries
and concerns 466 measures. Among them, existing programs are being scaled-up in 23 cases. A total of 179 cash transfer programs are new (58% of the total cash-based transfers), 75 of which are on-off measures (25% of the total).

The number of individuals that benefit from social assistance in various ways is staggering. Based on our analysis, 4 sets of numbers can be considered: if we consider the full set of ways in which programs are adapted (i.e.,
administration, adequacy and coverage), these have benefitted over 1.7 billion people (1,775,606,790). Using the same criteria, but restricting it only to cash-based measures, these have reached 1.2 billion individuals (1,297,710,250). If we examine the sole
metric of coverage levels for cash transfers, then such scale-up covered 1.1 billion people (1,142,065,485). Such level would increase by about half a billion people if also in-kind transfers are included (1,672,407,675).

Cash transfer programs tend to be of short duration and relatively generous in size. Information on duration is available for 70 cash transfer measures ranging from 1 to 12 months, for an average of 3.1 months. In terms of
generosity, data from 209 countries show that average transfers almost doubled (+93%). Increases more than doubled in five countries (Mongolia, Trinidad and Tobago, Egypt, South Korea and Brazil). Overall, transfers represent 30% of average monthly GDP per
capita – a 5 points increase since last update in late May.

Where have cash transfers been scaled-up the most from their pre-Covid levels?
Out of a sample of 18 countries, Myanmar and Nigeria present some stunning, four-digit rates because of their low initial levels of coverage. If we exclude those exceptional cases, the average rate of increase in cash transfers coverage is about 233%.
Similarly, the Congo Republic and Madagascar have made remarkable scale-up efforts despite their very low initial coverage. Other countries like Indonesia and Bangladesh also present substantial scale up rates despite the relatively higher initial coverage
levels. The coverage of cash and in-kind transfers varies by region. The coverage of cash transfers has increased over the past month, especially in East Asia and Pacific. On average, 15% of the world’s population is covered by cash transfers, ranging from
2% in Africa to 22% in North America and LAC. The global average increases to 22%, mostly because of large-scale in-kind schemes in India.

Importantly, how many of country measures are planned, ongoing or ended in practice? This is an important question to get a firmer sense of the action at country level. While reporting data is often limited, patchy and unavailable,
we re-surveyed all the 621 social assistance measures with a view of understanding their ‘state in implementation’. Information was available for about 31% of the sample, or 195 measures. Out of these, 72% (141 measures) are ongoing, while the rest of the
portfolio is either planned (13%) or completed (14%) at this time. A similar assessment is underway for social insurance and labor market programs.

Covid-19 has shed light on a range of vulnerabilities, including in urban areas.
For this purpose, we re-examined the dataset to identify the number of programs that have been designed to address the particular needs emerging in urban settings. A total of 21 programs have such urban lens, with 1 (Kenya) specifically designed for
slums. While the latter is a public works scheme, most programs (14) are cash or in-kind transfers, followed by public works (2), school feeding (2) and utility support (2).

There are important developments also in other key social protection components. For instance, 263 social insurance programs are present in 125 countries. Most programs include unemployment benefits (79 measures), followed
by wavers, deferment or subsidization of social security contributions (61). Also paid sick leave is a significant intervention adopted for Covid-19 (59), and so are ways in which pensions were adapted (49). Supply-side, worker-related labor market programs
are now featured in 140 programs and 85 countries. As in previous editions of this review, wage subsidies are the premier vehicle utilized for Covid response on the labor front. These now include 78 measures in 67 countries. Other measures include labor market
regulation adjustments (27 cases), 23 activation initiatives, and shorter-time arrangements (12).

Regions present different combinations of social protection components. Sub-Saharan Africa is the region with the highest share of social assistance (83%), followed by South Asia (76%) and Latin America and the Caribbean (71%).
Only in Europe and Central Asia safety net transfers are less than half of the regional portfolio. Social insurance is particularly extensive in North America (44%), while East Asia present the largest share of labor market measures (20%). The latter as just
5% in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

What about countries in conflict and fragile situations? New analysis for those countries shows 57 social assistance measures, complemented by 9 and 4 social insurance and labor market programs, respectively. Many of the most
fragile countries globally have no measures put in place – including Central African Republic, Syria, Yemen, Burundi, and Eritrea, among others.

How much are countries spending on social protection responses? For a subset of countries for which data is available (64 in the case of social assistance, 20 for insurance, and 17 for labor markets), a total of $589 billion
is being reported. This represents an increase of $48 billion since the last update in late May. This is about 0.4% of GDP, if we consider $142 trillion as the world’s GDP. Such level of investment is in line with overall social protection spending that occurred
as part of the global response to the 2010 financial crisis. However, per capita spending is variable: this ranges from $123 in high-income countries to a mere $1 in low-income settings; similarly, South Asia only provides $3/capita.

Kind regards,

Sebastian

Sebastian Molineus

Regional Director for the South Caucasus

Europe and Central Asia

T
+995 (32) 291 6238

M
+995 (577) 78 7821

M
+1 (202) 492-3914

E
[email-masked]

W
www.worldbank.org/en/region/eca

@smolineus

www.linkedin.com/in/molineus/

From: Sebastian-A Molineus

Sent: Friday, June 12, 2020 12:06 AM

To: Maya Tskitishvili <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked];
[email-masked]; [email-masked]

Cc: Ekaterine Mikabadze <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked];
[email-masked]; Evgenij Najdov <[email-masked]>; Lire Ersado <[email-masked]>; Abdulaziz Faghi <[email-masked]>;
Jan Van Bilsen <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked]

Subject: RE: Our standing WB offer to support the government of Georgia during the COVID-19 crisis

Dear colleagues –

Please find below and attached our weekly COVID-19 update and monitoring report.

All countries and territories affected (cases/deaths):* Albania (1,341/34); Armenia (14,103/227); Austria (17,005/673); Azerbaijan (8,530/102); Belarus (51,066/288); Belgium (59,569/9,629); Bosnia and Herzegovina (2,775/161); Bulgaria (2,889/167);
Croatia (2,249/106); Cyprus (972/23); Czech Republic (9,787/330); Denmark (12,216/593); Estonia (1,958/69); Finland (7,040/324); France (192,068/29,322); Georgia (827/13); Germany (186,522/8,752); Greece (3,068/183); Greenland (13/0); Holy See (12/0); Hungary
(4,027/551); Iceland (1,807/10); Ireland (25,231/1,695); Isle of Man (336/24); Italy (235,763/34,114); Jersey (313/30); Kazakhstan (13,319/67); Kosovo (1,298/31); Kyrgyzstan (2,093/26); Laos (19/0); Latvia (1,092/26); Liechtenstein (83/1); Lithuania (1,733/74);
Luxembourg (4,049/110); Malta (635/9); Moldova (10,321/371); Monaco (99/5); Montenegro (325/9); Netherlands (48,293/6,061); North Macedonia (3,364/164); Norway (8,588/239); Poland (27,842/1,206); Portugal (35,600/1,497); Romania (20,945/1,360); Russia (493,657/6,358);
San Marino (695/42); Serbia (12,031/251); Slovakia (1,533/28); Slovenia (1,509/109); Spain (242,280/29,858); Sweden (46,814/4,795); Switzerland (31,011/1,936); Tajikistan (4,763/48); Turkey (173,036/4,746); Ukraine (29,015/841); United Kingdom (291,584/41,213);
United States (1,994,834/112,647); Uzbekistan (4,623/19)

For real time* updates:  https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6

*Please note there may be a lag in reporting.

Country Response

Austria

Austria is lifting checks at its border with Italy and ending quarantine requirements for more than 20 European countries as of June 16, foreign minister said, added that since Spain has said it will keep
its borders closed until the end of June, the two countries could mutually lift restrictions on July; restrictions on the other three will remain in place for the time being with health minister cited Britain and Sweden’s higher infection rates; checks at
its border with Italy will be lifted

Bulgaria

Bulgaria will extend an epidemic emergency until the end of June to fight the spread of the coronavirus after an increase in new registered cases, mainly in the south, PM said on Wednesday, added that
the government did not plan to introduce new restrictions for the time being, but appealed to people to keep social distancing and weak protective masks

Denmark

Denmark, the first country outside Asia to ease its coronavirus lockdown, said on Wednesday the spread of COVID-19 has not accelerated since it entered its second phase of reopening society last month;
the number of coronavirus-related deaths has hovered between zero and four per day in the last three weeks, after a peak of 22 deaths on March 31 and the number of hospitalizations has fallen to fewer than 100 since the beginning of June

France

France’s new death toll from COVID-19 on Wednesday was only one-third of the tally the day before but the total of new confirmed infections rose again, one month out of a strict lockdown; the health ministry
said the death toll was up by only 23 to 29,319, and 87 COVID-19 deaths were reported

France will end special government powers brought in to deal with the coronavirus pandemic on July 10 though it will retain the ability to curb gatherings and freedom of movement for four months, the
prime minister’s office said; however, the cabinet will approve on Wednesday a new bill that will allow the government to restrict freedom of movement, make face masks compulsory on public transport, shut businesses and ban gatherings for another four months

France raised its coronavirus response measures to nearly 136 billion euros ($154.6 billion) on Wednesday, bringing the cost to 5.6% of GDP in its third budget revision so far this year; the government
had put the cost at 110 billion euros in April but has since had to make upward revisions to take account of falling tax revenue and extra spending, it said in its budget update

Any inquiry into the French response to the coronavirus pandemic should be handled by parliament rather than a judicial panel, the justice minister said on Wednesday, amid growing scrutiny of the government’s
COVID-19 measures; the minister was speaking after Paris prosecutors opened a preliminary inquiry into government actions to determine whether any criminal offences may have been committed

Germany

Germany plans to extend a travel ban for non-European countries until August 31, government sources said, adding Berlin was also strongly advising against any cruises due to the special risks related
to coronavirus; aware that many holidaymakers want to travel to destinations including Turkey, the United States, northern African and south-eastern Asia, official said the government would keep looking at the travel warning before September

Germany will from next week lift entry restrictions for seasonal workers from European Union and Schengen countries, agriculture minister said

Germany will continue to advise against travel to Britain even after it lifts travel bans to much of Europe on June 15 because of London’s requirement that new arrivals all enter two weeks of quarantine,
a foreign ministry said

Hungary

Hungary and Croatia will lift restrictions on cross-border travel from Friday as the novel coronavirus pandemic has subsided and remains under control in both countries, foreign minister said, added that
previous border openings with Austria, Slovakia, Serbia, Slovenia and the Czech Republic had not caused a spike in new cases

Italy

Italy’s PM said he will be questioned by prosecutors on Friday over the way the coronavirus outbreak was handled in the northern Italian city of Bergamo, one of the areas most badly affected by the epidemic

A group representing relatives of people who died of COVID-19 in Bergamo, one of Italy’s hardest-hit cities, asked prosecutors on Wednesday to investigate possible criminal responsibility in the management
of the pandemic; a lawyer for the group said around 40 requests were filed over the handling of the outbreak in Lombardy

Netherlands

Workers at Tata Steel’s Dutch operations went on strike on Wednesday to protest against planned job cuts, the FNV union said; the Dutch unions say Tata is planning to cut 1,000 of 9,000 jobs in the Netherlands
as part of a wider restructuring of its British-based European operations

Poland

Poland will open its borders with fellow European Union countries on Saturday and allow international flights from next Tuesday, as the country unfreezes its economy despite an increase in coronavirus
cases

Russia

Russia on Wednesday reported 8,404 new cases of the coronavirus, taking the nationwide tally of infections to 493,657; 216 people had died from the virus, bringing the overall death toll to 6,358

Russians are using Belarus as a springboard to travel abroad as their country’s international borders remain largely closed as part of efforts to curb the spread of the new coronavirus; transport sector
sources said that dozens of car and mini-van drivers still advertise cross-border shuttle services for both Russian and Belarusian citizens despite Russia’s formal closure of its borders in March

Moscow’s health department said 5,260 people died from the novel coronavirus in the city in May, a raise of 3,365, far higher than the 1,895 deaths reported by Russia’s coronavirus crisis response center
over the course of that month; “COVID-19 as a main or an accompanying cause of death was registered in 5,260 cases,” the Moscow health department said in a statement on its website

Russian factory is recalling a model of ventilator linked to two fatal hospital fires in May in order to carry out further safety tests, state healthcare regulator documents showed on Wednesday

Ukraine

The International Monetary Fund’s executive board approved a $5 billion loan deal for Ukraine that Kiev says is needed to stave off default as the coronavirus pandemic plunges the country’s economy into
recession; Ukraine will receive an immediate disbursement of about $2.1 billion from the 18-month Stand-By Arrangement, and the rest of the funds will be spread over four reviews during the program, which focuses more on stability than deep structural reforms,
IMF said in a statement

United Kingdom

Britain’s death toll from COVID-19 could have been halved if lockdown had been introduced a week earlier, a former member of the UK government’s scientific advisory group said; however, PM said the decision
on the timing of the coronavirus lockdown was made on the basis of scientific evidence and it was too early to say whether restrictions were brought in too late

English adults who live alone, as well as single parents, will be allowed to meet another household indoors from this weekend, and will not need to keep 2 meters apart, PM said

More than 20 British business groups have asked the government to relax its coronavirus quarantine rules and restrictions and start opening up the economy to trade partners

United States

The United States will soon resume operations at its consulate in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the U.S. Embassy said

Coronavirus cases and hospitalizations are spiking in parts of California and the U.S. Southwest, prompting Arizona to reactivate its emergency plan for medical facilities and California to place counties
where half its population lives on a watch list; the uptick in cases, which could lead authorities to reimpose or tighten public health restrictions, complicates efforts to reopen the U.S. economy

Arizona again told hospitals to activate the coronavirus emergency plans after cases spiked following reopening, turning it into a U.S. virus hotspot along with neighboring Southwest states; the state’s
stay-at-home order ended on May 15, and its cases have increased 115 percent since then, leading a former state health chief to warn Arizona may need new social distancing measures or field hospitals

U.S. authorities said they have charged the head of California medical technology firm Arrayit Corp and an investor in the company, alleging that they had roles in schemes related to COVID-19 claims

U.S. Treasury Secretary said he would seriously consider more direct payments to individuals in the next phase of coronavirus rescue legislation, adding that funds should also be targeted to help sectors
struggling to reopen, including hospitality and tourism

U.S. consumer prices fell for a third straight month in May and underlying inflation was weak as demand for goods and services remained subdued amid a recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic; the Labor
Department said its consumer price index dipped 0.1% last month after plunging 0.8% in April, which was the largest decline since December 2008; prices were held down by a 3.5% drop in the cost of gasoline, which followed a 20.6% plunge in April

The U.S. federal budget deficit in May nearly doubled to $399 billion from a year earlier amid continued strong spending on coronavirus relief programs and a 25% drop in receipts, the Treasury Department
said; the May deficit brought the year-to-date fiscal deficit to $1.88 trillion, already eclipsing the previous full-year record of $1.4 trillion in 2009, with some analysts predicting a gap as high as $3.8 trillion for the fiscal year to September 30

Kind regards,

Sebastian

Sebastian Molineus

Regional Director for the South Caucasus

Europe and Central Asia

T
+995 (32) 291 6238

M
+995 (577) 78 7821

M
+1 (202) 492-3914

E
[email-masked]

W
www.worldbank.org/en/region/eca

@smolineus

www.linkedin.com/in/molineus/

From: Sebastian-A Molineus

Sent: Thursday, June 4, 2020 7:38 PM

To: Maya Tskitishvili <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked];
[email-masked]; [email-masked]

Cc: Ekaterine Mikabadze <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked];
[email-masked]; Evgenij Najdov <[email-masked]>; Lire Ersado <[email-masked]>; Abdulaziz Faghi <[email-masked]>;
Jan Van Bilsen <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked]

Subject: RE: Our standing WB offer to support the government of Georgia during the COVID-19 crisis

Dear colleagues –

Please find below and attached our weekly COVID-19 update and monitoring, as well as country responses.

All countries and territories affected (cases/deaths):* Albania (1,184/33); Andorra (851/51); Armenia (10,524/170); Austria (16,771/670); Azerbaijan (6,260/76); Belarus (45,116/248); Belgium (58,685/9,522); Bosnia and Herzegovina (2,551/157);
Bulgaria (2,560/146); Croatia (2,246/103); Czech Republic (9,414/325); Denmark (11,971/580); Estonia (1,880/69); Faroe Islands (187/0); Finland (6,911/321); France (189,348/29,024); Georgia (800/13); Germany (184,121/8,602); Gibraltar (172/4); Greece (2,937/179);
Greenland (13/0); Holy See (12/0); Hungary (3,931/534); Iceland (1,806/10); Ireland (25,111/1,659); Isle of Man (336/24); Italy (233,836/33,601); Jersey (308/30); Kazakhstan (11,796/48); Kosovo (1,142/30); Kyrgyzstan (1,871/20); Latvia (1,079/24); Liechtenstein
(83/1); Lithuania (1,684/71); Luxembourg (4,024/110); Malta (622/9); Moldova (8,795/310); Monaco (99/5); Montenegro (325/9); Netherlands (46,938/5,996); North Macedonia (2,492/145); Norway (8,467/237); Poland (24,687/1,115); Portugal (33,261/1,447); Romania
(19,669/1,296); Russia (432,277/5,215); San Marino (687/42); Serbia (11,523/245); Slovakia (1,525/28); Slovenia (1,509/109); Spain (240,326/29,858); Sweden (40,803/4,542); Switzerland (30,893/1,921); Tajikistan (4,191/48); Turkey (166,422/4,609); United Kingdom
(281,264/39,811); United States (1,841,629/107,023); Uzbekistan (3,843/16)

For real time* updates:  https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6

*Please note there may be a lag in reporting.

Country Response

Austria

•             Austria is lifting coronavirus-related border restrictions including quarantines for all neighboring countries except Italy as of Thursday, foreign minister said; Austria borders eight countries and had agreed with Switzerland,
Germany and Liechtenstein that they would reopen their shared borders from June 15 and it is now accelerating that move on its side and lifting checks for other neighbors

Azerbaijan

•             Azerbaijan’s government plans to reimpose some restrictions this weekend to stop the spread of the coronavirus after the number of infections in the country rose, the government said on Wednesday; official said the government
planned to introduce a curfew, restrict the movement of people in the streets and on public and private transport, and close down all shops from Friday night until Sunday morning

Belgium

•             Belgium will allow almost all businesses except night clubs to reopen on June 8, including cafes and bars, PM said on Wednesday, although social distancing measures will remain; Belgium will also reopen its borders to all
fellow European Union states on June 15

•             Cultural activities would continue without spectators until July 1, when cinemas and other cultural spaces can open with a maximum of 200 people; gyms can reopen from Monday, but with no access to changing rooms; PM recommended
not greeting friends with kisses or hugs and gatherings should be no larger than 50 people; Belgians should meet a maximum of 10 friends a week, a so-called personal bubble, although honoring that rule would depend on citizens showing responsibility rather
than enforcement by authorities

Czech Republic

•             Czech Republic and Slovakia will fully restore free movement between borders from midnight, the two countries’ prime ministers said on Wednesday

France

•             France’s coronavirus death toll rose by 81 on Wednesday, or 0.3%, to reach 29,021, the fifth-highest death toll in the world, and the number of confirmed cases rose again after they went down Tuesday due to an adjustment in
reporting; the rate of increase has decreased compared to a day earlier, when fatalities were up 0.4%, but it is still higher than the 0.2% daily average seen over the last seven days

Germany

•             German Chancellor’s coalition resumed negotiations on a massive stimulus package on Wednesday after party leaders deadlocked over cash incentives to buy new cars and extra relief for highly indebted municipalities

•             Germany will lift a travel ban for EU member states plus Britain, Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Switzerland from June 15 as long as there are no entry bans or large-scale lockdowns in those countries, the foreign minister
said

•             Germany is talking to Ankara about reviewing travel restrictions with Turkey but is waiting for a European Union recommendation before taking any decisions, a foreign ministry said

•             The coronavirus pandemic has contributed to another rise in unemployment in Germany in May with some 169,000 people were added to the jobless list between April and May, with the total number of unemployed now at 2.8 million,
according to official figures

Greece

•             Hundreds of Greeks danced and sang from their cars at a drive-in music concert, the first such event since the country banned mass gatherings

Italy

•             Italy has reopened to travelers from Europe, three months after the country went into coronavirus lockdown, with all hopes pinned on reviving the key tourism industry as the summer season begins

•             Italians were allowed to travel to other regions of the country on Wednesday for the first time in nearly three months, in a further relaxation of lockdown restrictions; travelers boarding trains in Milan, capital of Lombardy
in northern Italy, were excited at the prospect of finally being able to visit family and friends elsewhere in the country

•             PM has said Italy would receive some 20 billion euros ($22.47bn) from a new European scheme to mitigate the impact on jobs caused by the epidemic; he added that Italy would also benefit from funds made available by the European
Investment Bank, as part of a wider EU package designed to boost the bloc's economic recovery

Kyrgyzstan

•             Kyrgyzstan will resume domestic flights and bus circulation between its provinces and allow charter flights from China this month to bring in staff for numerous Chinese investment projects; Kyrgyzstan will also resume domestic
flights and public transit between its provinces from June 5; employees of Chinese companies will be tested for novel coronavirus before and after the flights, Deputy PM said

Netherlands

•             An elementary school in the Netherlands closed in the city of The Hague on Wednesday after two teachers tested positive for coronavirus and seven students developed gastrointestinal symptoms, an official said

•             The Dutch government intends to cull the mink at farms where animals have been infected with the coronavirus, news media reported

•             A study of Dutch blood donors has found that about 5.5 percent of them have developed antibodies against the new coronavirus, blood donation firm Sanquin revealed; the study, conducted among 7,000 donors between May 10 and
20, gives an indication of what percentage of the Dutch population may have already had the disease and a similar study in April showed antibodies in 3 percent of Dutch blood donors

Poland

•             Poland picked June 28 on Wednesday as a new date for a presidential election that was canceled last month amid the coronavirus pandemic

Russia

•             Russian President does not plan to take part in an online summit on a possible coronavirus vaccine being organized by the British government this week, Kremlin spokesman said

•             The Kremlin defended plans to hold a nationwide vote next month on constitutional reforms, saying the coronavirus epidemic was expected to ease before it is held

•             Russia has reported 8,536 new cases of the novel coronavirus, bringing its nationwide tally to 432,277, the third-highest in the world; the death toll reached 5,215 after another 178 deaths registered

•             Residents of Moscow can leave their homes to take a stroll for the first time in nine weeks next Monday under a partial easing of a tough lockdown regime following a fall in novel coronavirus cases; shops in Moscow that were
ordered to close in late March including car dealerships, dry cleaners, shoe repair stores, book shops and launderettes, are set to open; residents will be allowed out for walks three times a week on designated days that are determined by the address they
live at; people can also jog or do outdoor sports, but only between 5 AM and 9 PM; shopping centers and most parks will also open next Monday, though children’s playgrounds inside them and sports facilities will stay shut

•             The Russian city of St. Petersburg, which has been hit hard by the novel coronavirus, recorded 1,552 more deaths in May than in the same month last year, official data shows

•             One person was killed after a fire broke out at a St Petersburg hospital treating patients with infectious diseases

Spain

•             The Spanish government on Wednesday secured parliament’s backing for a final extension to the state of emergency imposed to tackle the coronavirus epidemic and which will now last until June 21

•             New official data in Spain show that many more people have died than usual this year than the recorded number of coronavirus fatalities and revealed a shocking 155% spike in mortality at the epidemic’s peak in early April;
experts believe the additional deaths include cases where the cause is hard to establish due to underlying conditions, and fatalities among people who avoided hospital treatment for other problems due to the fear of contracting COVID-19

•             Spain is working on plans to gradually open its borders to tourists from countries deemed more secure in the fight against the coronavirus, possibly starting from June 22, the tourism ministry said on Wednesday.

•             Foreign minister said Germany would lift a recommendation to avoid travelling to Spain as soon as Spain lifts restrictions on visitors from abroad; officials have said Spain is keen for travel protocols to be agreed on at
the European level

Sweden

•             Sweden’s chief epidemiologist said on Wednesday the country should have done more to combat the coronavirus but backed the broad strategy, which avoided the strict lockdowns seen in many other countries

•             Sweden’s government has been ready to introduce further measures to try and halt the spread of the new coronavirus if recommended by the Public Health Agency, health minister said on Wednesday

Turkey

•             Turkey will open its Gurbulak border gate with Iran and the Habur border gate with Iraq this week in order to help boost trade as coronavirus containment measures are eased, trade minister said on Wednesday, added a Customs
Union agreement with the European Union must also be updated soon in order to help improve trade between the two sides

•             Turkey’s health minister said on Wednesday his team would not recommend extending a weekend stay-at-home order nearly two months after it was imposed as the government continues to ease coronavirus containment measures; however,
the lockdown rule, due to expire on June 6, could be reimposed in certain provinces depending on the infection rate, which has eased significantly in recent weeks

United Kingdom

•             British business minister Alok Sharma has been tested for coronavirus and is self-isolating after feeling unwell in parliament

•             Workers from the European Union who left Britain while the coronavirus lockdown shut much of the economy should come back, but must quarantine like other travelers, government said

•             Quarantine measures Britain plans to introduce for almost all international travelers from June 8 are vital to ensure the country’s rate of COVID-19 infection does not increase again, PM said

•             The results of almost all tests for the coronavirus should be available within 24 hours by the end of this month, PM said; Britain’s COVID-19 test and trace program’s data on the numbers of people tested and contacts traced
within 24 hours would be available from next week once it had been validated

•             Prices in shops in Britain fell at the fastest pace since at least 2006 last month as retailers sought to find a way to win over shoppers hit by the coronavirus lockdown, an industry survey showed on Wednesday; the survey
indicates that shop prices fell by 2.4% in annual terms, following a 1.7% drop in April

United States

•             The administration has identified five companies – Moderna, AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson and Merck – as the most likely candidates to produce a vaccine for the novel coronavirus; the selected companies will get access
to additional government funds, help in running clinical trials, and financial and logistical support, New York Times reported

•             Confusion, complaints of missing mail-in ballots and long lines at some polling centers marred primary elections on Tuesday in eight states and the District of Columbia, the biggest test yet of voting during the coronavirus
outbreak

•             New York will allow outdoor dining during phase two of reopening, Governor announced on Wednesday, with restaurants in seven of 10 regions given the green light beginning on Thursday

•             California Governor signed an executive order today requiring mail-in ballots be sent to all registered voters in the state for the upcoming general election in November

•             Emergency department visits fell 42% across the United States during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic compared to the same period last year, according to a study by the CDC; the steepest declines in ER visits, from
the start of 2020 through May 30, were seen in children younger than 14 and women, and in the northeast region that includes New York and New Jersey, the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak

•             U.S. state tax revenue, which plunged due to the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, could start to slowly recover this summer as long as the outbreak does not undergo a resurgence, analysts said

•             The U.S. Federal Reserve said on Wednesday it will allow governors of U.S. states to designate transit agencies, airports, utilities and other institutions to borrow under its municipal liquidity program as the central bank
tries to mitigate economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic

European Union

•             The European Commission classified the new coronavirus as a mid-level threat to workers, drawing criticism from socialist lawmakers because the move will allow less stringent workplace safety measures than if the virus was
deemed a high risk; the decision has wide economic and health implications as it could affect companies’ costs in restarting business activity and have an impact on workers’ safety

Kind regards,

Sebastian

Sebastian Molineus

Regional Director for the South Caucasus

Europe and Central Asia

T
+995 (32) 291 6238

M
+995 (577) 78 7821

M
+1 (202) 492-3914

E
[email-masked]

W
www.worldbank.org/en/region/eca

@smolineus

www.linkedin.com/in/molineus/

From: Sebastian-A Molineus <[email-masked]>

Sent: Friday, May 29, 2020 4:21 PM

To: Maya Tskitishvili <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked];
[email-masked]; [email-masked]

Cc: Ekaterine Mikabadze <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked];
[email-masked]; Evgenij Najdov <[email-masked]>; Lire Ersado <[email-masked]>; Abdulaziz Faghi <[email-masked]>;
Jan Van Bilsen <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked]

Subject: Re: Our standing WB offer to support the government of Georgia during the COVID-19 crisis

Dear colleagues - again, please find attached and below the weekly ECA COVID-19 monitoring presentation and report with key indicators across the region. Happy weekend reading. Best regards, Sebastian

WHO

About 159,000 more people in 24 European countries have died since early March than would have ordinarily been expected, a WHO official said, with a “significant proportion” of the spike linked to COVID-19

All countries and territories affected (cases/deaths):* Albania (1,076/33); Andorra (763/51); Armenia (8,216/113); Austria (16,628/668); Azerbaijan (4,759/56); Belarus (39,858/219); Belgium (57,849/9,388); Bosnia and Herzegovina (2,462/153);
Bulgaria (2,477/134); Croatia (2,245/102); Cyprus (941/23); Czech Republic (9,134/318); Denmark (11,712/568); Estonia (1,851/66); Finland (6,743/313); France (186,364/28,665); Georgia (738/12); Germany (182,196/8,470); Gibraltar (157/4); Greece (2,906/175);
Greenland (12/0); Holy See (12/0); Hungary (3,816/509); Iceland (1,805/10); Ireland (24,841/1,639); Isle of Man (336/24); Italy (231,732/33,142); Jersey (308/29); Kazakhstan (9,576/37); Kosovo (1,048/30); Kyrgyzstan (1,594/16); Latvia (1,061/24); Liechtenstein
(83/1); Lithuania (1,656/68); Luxembourg (4,008/110); Malta (616/7); Moldova (7,725/282); Monaco (98/5); Montenegro (325/9); Netherlands (46,152/5,922); North Macedonia (2,077/121); Norway (8,406/236); Poland (22,825/1,038); Portugal (31,596/1,369); Romania
(18,791/1,235); Russia (379,051/4,142); San Marino (672/42); Serbia (11,300/241); Slovakia (1,520/28); Slovenia (1,509/108); Spain (239,639/29,036); Sweden (35,727/4,266); Switzerland (30,796/1,919); Tajikistan (3,563/47); Turkey (160,979/4,461); Ukraine (22,382/669);
United Kingdom (270,507/37,919); United States (1,715,811/101,337); Uzbekistan (3,444/14);

For real time* updates: https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6

*Please note there may be a lag in reporting.

Country Response

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia will re-open borders closed by the coronavirus pandemic with neighboring Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia on June 1 and lift restrictions
for commercial flights, PM said; business travel from other countries and visits for medical reasons and funerals will be also allowed

Denmark

Reopening schools in Denmark, the first country in Europe to do so, did not lead to an increase in coronavirus infections, according to official data, confirming similar findings from Finland on Thursday

Finland

Finland has seen no evidence of the coronavirus spreading faster since schools started to reopen in the middle of May, the top health official said

France

France is due to enter a second phase in its relaxation of lockdown rules; restaurants, bars and beaches will reopen from June 2, PM
said; in “green” areas where the virus circulates slowly, most of continental France, the only limit will be that there needs to be a minimum distance of 1 meter between tables; in “orange” areas such as the Ile de France region around Paris, bars, restaurants
and cafes will only be allowed to open their outdoor terraces; an 100 km (62 mile) travel restriction will also be lifted; major sporting events in France will remain suspended for now until at least June
21

France would be favorable to the re-opening of borders with other European countries from June 15

France will accelerate a plan to re-open high schools and junior high schools across the country; primary schools have re-opened in most places, but high schools have lagged behind

The reproduction rate of the coronavirus infection is below 1 in most of France’s national territory, health minister said

French government’s contact-tracing app will be available from June 2; the “StopCovid” app in France was approved by the lower house
of parliament on Wednesday

Hundreds of healthcare workers demonstrated outside a hospital in Paris on Thursday to demand better pay and more resources for a public health sector on the frontline of the COVID-19 epidemic

A French cat has survived and recovered from coronavirus infection

Germany

German Chancellor on Thursday urged fellow leaders to consider providing further support to multilateral institutions like UN and WHO to speed recovery from the coronavirus crisis; she also said countries
should allocate more funding to the IMF to help states that come into short-term financial difficulties

Norway

Norway will allow entry to business travelers from all the other Nordic countries from June 1, in a further easing of coronavirus restrictions,
the government said on Thursday, making no distinction for Sweden; the new rules mean business travelers arriving from Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Sweden will no longer be subject to a mandatory 10-day quarantine, which is currently the case for almost all
arrivals from abroad

Romania

Romania will reopen outdoor cafes and restaurants and allow international road and rail travel from June 1, after a two-month lockdown;
Romanians will be able to travel between cities without restrictions and outdoor events with up to 500 people will be allowed; non-contact outdoor sporting events can be held without an audience

Russia

The Kremlin on Thursday praised Moscow’s authorities after the city reported its lowest daily increase in coronavirus infections since April 23

Russia’s Arctic region of Murmansk plans to build a new temporary hospital in a village where a vital liquefied natural gas supply plant is being built after an outbreak of the new coronavirus; official
said the Murmansk region, which borders Finland and Norway, must be prepared for a possible second wave of the virus

A Siberian zoo that closed its doors to visitors for over two months due to the novel coronavirus says the lockdown has encouraged a baby boom among its animals

Spain

Spain’s Valencia region will progress to the next phase of a gradual exit from lockdowns, health minister said on Thursday, moving to phase 2 of a four-stage easing process, in which gatherings of up
to 15 people will be allowed and some previous restrictions on movement will be lifted

Switzerland

Travelers at Zurich’s airport will encounter robot cleaners, facemask vending machines and extra room to queue for boarding when flight operations resume in earnest as coronavirus curbs ease, officials
said on Thursday

Turkey

Turkey begun operating intercity trains on Thursday after a two-month gap, as it gradually eases coronavirus curbs in a bid to restore normal life and reopen an economy facing the threat of recession;
trains would run at half capacity with no ticket price hikes and passengers would be monitored for virus symptoms

Ukraine

Business is thriving for a company manufacturing portable houses in Ukraine as people cooped up in tower blocks under lockdown yearn to live closer to nature; Unitfab, which launched in November, makes
a basic house for $55,000 in three months

United Kingdom

The coronavirus lockdown will ease next week for most of Britain’s population, PM announced on Thursday; in England, up to six people will be able to meet outside and schools will gradually reopen from
next Monday

Britain will gradually move towards more localized action to tackle local coronavirus flare-ups, as opposed to the nationwide measures taken so far, Health Secretary said

Employers should pay the wages of anyone told to stay at home by England’s COVID-19 test and trace system, British health minister said; the service is aimed at allowing the loosening of lockdown measures
for most people; from Thursday, contacts of those testing positive will need to isolate for 14 days, even if they have no symptoms

United States

U.S. senators offered a bipartisan $3 billion plan on Thursday to prepare for the next global health crisis, putting a premium on fighting disease outbreaks and pandemics like COVID-19

New York Mayor on Thursday outlined the first steps for reopening the United States’ most populous city, envisioning up to 400,000 people heading back to their workplaces, an easing of the lockdown that
began in March; the city’s famed restaurants and bars will remain closed, except for takeout and delivery, but the City Council unveiled legislation to allow outdoor dining to help the industry recover from the economic crisis

More than 3,000 U.S. meatpacking workers have tested positive for COVID-19 and at least 44 workers have died, the country’s largest meatpacking union said on Thursday, reflecting an increasing toll on
plant employees; meat processors like Tyson, Smithfield Foods and JBS USA temporarily closed about 20 slaughterhouses last month as workers fell ill with the new coronavirus, leading to shortages of certain products in grocery stores

New York Governor said he would sign an executive order on Thursday authorizing businesses to deny entry to anyone who does not wear a mask or face covering, stressing masks were critical to preventing
the spread of the novel coronavirus

The Texas Supreme Court blocked a decision that allowed mail-in balloting for voters who feared for their health because of the novel coronavirus outbreak

European Union

The European Commission launched a new global fundraising campaign on Thursday to finance the development and worldwide distribution of testing, vaccines and treatments against COVID-19, seeking to address
concerns they may not be equally shared; the new initiative, named “Global Goal: Unite For Our Future”, is meant to raise tens of billions of dollars with private and public donations

The European Commission said on Thursday it wanted to set up a permanent reserve of essential drugs and medical equipment to address shortages that have dogged the EU for years and worsened throughout
the COVID-19 pandemic; the stockpile would be funded from a new health budget worth 9.4 billion euros ($10.3 billion) which the EU executive commission proposed on Wednesday; the reserve would complement a 380-million-euro emergency stockpile created at the
onset of the COVID-19 pandemic after many countries in the 27-nation bloc faced acute shortages of face masks, testing kits, ventilators, intensive care drugs and other vital items

Best regards,

Sebastian

Sebastian Molineus

Regional Director for the South Caucasus

Europe and Central Asia, The World Bank

T: +995 (32) 291 30 96

M:+995 (577) 78 78 21

M: +1 (202) 492 3914

www.worldbank.org/en/region/eca

www.linkedin.com/in/molineus

Follow me on Twitter @SMolineus

Sent from my iPad

From: Sebastian-A Molineus <[email-masked]>

Sent: Thursday, May 21, 2020 11:55:34 AM

To: Maya Tskitishvili <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked] <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked] <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked] <[email-masked]>

Cc: Ekaterine Mikabadze <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked] <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked] <[email-masked]>; Evgenij Najdov <[email-masked]>;
Lire Ersado <[email-masked]>; Abdulaziz Faghi <[email-masked]>; Jan Van Bilsen <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked] <[email-masked]>

Subject: Re: Our standing WB offer to support the government of Georgia during the COVID-19 crisis

Dear colleagues -

Please find below and attached the latest WB COVID-19 update for Europe and Central Asia.  The presentation offers some interesting data.

All countries and territories affected (cases/deaths):* Albania (964/31); Andorra (761/51); Armenia (5,271/67); Austria (16,353/633); Azerbaijan (3,631/43); Belarus (32,426/179); Belgium (55,983/9,150); Bosnia and Herzegovina (2,338/136);
Bulgaria (2,292/116); Croatia (2,234/96); Czech Republic (8,698/304); Denmark (11,315/554); Djibouti (1,828/9); Estonia (1,794/64); Finland (6,443/304); France (181,700/28,242); Georgia (713/12); Germany (178,170/8,144); Gibraltar (148/4); Greece (2,850/166);
Greenland (11/0); Holy See (12/0); Hungary (3,598/470); Iceland (1,803/10); Ireland (24,315/1,571); Isle of Man (335/24); Italy (227,364/33,106); Jersey (303/28); Kazakhstan (6,969/35); Kosovo (989/29); Kyrgyzstan (1,270/14); Latvia (1,016/21); Liechtenstein
(83/1); Lithuania (1,577/60); Luxembourg (3,971/109); Moldova (6,553/228); Monaco (98/5); Montenegro (325/9); Netherlands (44,647/5,767); North Macedonia (1,858/110); Norway (8,281/234); Poland (19,739/962); Portugal (29,660/1,263); Romania (17,387/1,147);
Russia (308,705/2,972); San Marino (668/41); Serbia (10,833/235); Slovakia (1,496/28); Slovenia (1,468/105); Spain (239,639/27,888); Sweden (31,523/3,831); Switzerland (30,658/1,892); Tajikistan (2,140/44); Turkey (152,587/4,222); Ukraine (19,230/564); United
Kingdom (250,141/35,785); United States (1,541,110/93,119); Uzbekistan (2,939/13)

For real time* updates: https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6

*Please note there may be a lag in reporting.

Country Response

Russia

Russia’s coronavirus outbreak is entering a more stable phase, PM said, while warning that restrictions should be lifted carefully in the 17 regions where such moves have been authorized

Russia’s coronavirus cases passed through 300,000 on Wednesday, but with the lowest daily rise in infections since May 1; more patients discharged from hospital than new cases for the first tim

Russian efforts to repatriate all North Korean workers have been hampered by the coronavirus outbreak; the complete closure of North Korea’s borders meant workers in Russia have not been sent home

Austria

Hundreds of people gathered on Vienna's central Heldenplatz square to protest against the government measures implemented to curb the coronavirus

Croatia

Croatia’s President called a parliamentary election for July 5, a statement issued by his office said; the election will pit the ruling
Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) against the top opposition Social Democrats (SDP) party

Cyprus

Cyprus will reopen its airports on June 9 as it gradually lifts restrictions, the Deputy tourism minister said

Denmark

Denmark has asked for a new supply of a quarter million antibody test kits from Chinese diagnostics firm Livzon after a batch of tests proved too inaccurate, healthcare authorities said in a statement

Estonia

Estonia has started testing one of the world's first digital immunity passports, according to Back to Work, a coalition of technology firms, medical experts and local government officials developing the
app; the device collects testing data and allows people to share their health status with a third party via a temporary QR code

France

Riot police were deployed in force as youths set cars ablaze in some low-income housing estates in the Paris suburbs overnight, amid tensions heightened by the coronavirus lockdown; the latest unrest
in the banlieues, flared after an 18-year old died last weekend in a motorbike accident in the suburb of Argenteuil

The French government will insist on preserving Renault production plants in France and wants it to remain the carmaker’s global center for engineering, research, innovation and development, PM said

Germany

The international community may soon take "further steps" to ease developing nations' debt burden on top of a payments freeze decided last month, German Merkel said

The German government banned the use of subcontractors in the meat industry after a string of coronavirus infections among mainly foreign slaughterhouse workers sparked alarm; from
January 1, 2021 abattoirs and meat processing plants will have to directly employ their workers, putting an end to the controversial practice of relying on chains of subcontractors to supply laborers from abroad, often from Bulgaria and Romania

The German government gave itself new powers to veto hostile foreign takeover bids for healthcare companies, a measure designed to ensure a continuous supply of essential products during the coronavirus
crisis; the regulation will allow the government to block foreign takeovers of makers of vaccines, precursor chemicals, medicines, protective equipment or medical machinery such as ventilators

Greece

Greece will restart its tourism season on June 15 and gradually restore international flights from
July 1 to boost its economy after the virus lockdown, PM said

Ireland

Some parts of Ireland’s economy could restart ahead of schedule if the novel coronavirus remains under control, Ireland’s health minister said, expressing cautious optimism of moving into phase two of
a reopening plan on June 8

Luxembourg

Luxembourg began mass testing for COVID-19 this week with the goal of covering all of its 600,000 people as soon as possible to stave off a second wave of infections following the easing of lockdown measures;
the diagnostic tests are voluntary, building up from around 1,500 daily tests to 20,000 a day next month

Netherlands

A person who worked on a farm where mink are bred to export their fur contracted the coronavirus from the animals, the Dutch agriculture minister said in a letter to parliament on Wednesday; outbreaks
on mink farms in the Netherlands were first reported in April, when keepers noticed some animals having difficulty breathing, prompting a wider investigation

Poland

Polish schools are likely to remain closed until the end of June, when children start summer holidays, government spokesman said

Spain

Spain's government made it compulsory for everyone older than six to wear masks in indoor public spaces, and outdoor ones when it is impossible to keep more than six feet apart

Facing growing political opposition and protests in the street, Spain's PM called for unity as his minority government sought parliament's approval for an extension of the lockdown

Sweden

A Swedish study found that just 7.3% of Stockholmers developed COVID-19 antibodies by late April, which could fuel concern that a decision not to lock down Sweden may bring little herd immunity in the
near future

Switzerland

Switzerland has tasked its defense ministry with securing enough COVID-19 vaccine, amid growing fears that some countries could be left short of supplies when the medicine is eventually produced

The government allocated an extra 14.2 billion Swiss francs ($14.70 billion) to help pay for programs for workers who have lost their jobs or are working shorter hours during the pandemic-driven economic
crisis

Turkey

Turkey will ease existing 14-day quarantine restrictions for citizens coming from abroad as the country starts softening measures

Turkey does not risk a second wave of infections from the new coronavirus at the moment and it is preparing to start controlled “medical tourism” with 31 countries as of Wednesday, health minister said

Ukraine

Ukraine's government has decided to ease nationwide lockdown measures; hotels and public transport will resume operations in cities from May 22,
while kindergartens will be allowed to reopen from May 25

United Kingdom

PM said that a program to track and trace those suspected of having been in contact with people who have tested positive for COVID-19 would be in place by June
1; the government would have recruited 25,000 trackers by the start of next month, capable of tracing 10,000 new cases a day, when the overall number of daily tests would have reached 200,000

Britain’s parliament will require lawmakers to attend in person from June 2, ditching the videoconferencing arrangements which were
rushed in last month

Cambridge University became one of the first in the world on Wednesday to announce that all its lectures would be delivered online over the next academic year because of the coronavirus outbreak

Britain sold a government bond with a negative yield for the first time on Wednesday, meaning the government is effectively being rewarded for borrowing from investors who will be paid less than they lent

Britain’s inflation rate sank in April to its lowest since 2016 as the Covid-19 pandemic pushed down oil prices and clothing stores slashed prices, bolstering the prospect of more Bank of England stimulus
next month

Consumer price inflation dropped to an annual rate of 0.8% from 1.5% in March, official data showed on Wednesday, which was the sharpest one-month fall in over a decade and took inflation further below
the BoE’s 2% target; Deputy Governor has said it could drop below zero by the end of 2020

Apple and Google said they were in talks with the British government about the technology used in its smart- phone COVID-19 contact tracing app as the two companies released the initial version of their
own system

United States

The U.S. is considering imposing a ban on travel from Brazil, which has the world’s third highest number of people infected by the novel coronavirus

President said he may seek to revive a face-to-face meeting of G7 leaders near Washington, after earlier canceling the in-person gathering of world leaders amid the novel coronavirus pandemic

The Labor Department will expand inspections of businesses to reduce job-site hazards related to the new coronavirus as employees begin returning to work across the country

The administration said it was indefinitely extending a policy of strict border enforcement because of the COVID-19 outbreak

Lawmakers in the House of Representatives plan to vote again next week on giving small businesses more time to utilize their coronavirus aid under the Paycheck Protection Program, House Speaker said on
Wednesday

New York City residents from low-income communities have tested positive for COVID-19 antibodies at a higher-than-average rate, underscoring the disproportionate impact of the disease on people of color,
Governor said

The Las Vegas gaming industry will offer COVID-19 tests to employees before they return to work, the Culinary Union announced, moving the hard-hit sector a step closer to reopening; MGM, Caesars and Boyd
will participate in the testing plan

U.S. nursing homes have been plagued with infection control deficiencies even before the coronavirus pandemic turned them into hotspots for COVID-19, a government report said on Wednesday

Best regards,

Sebastian

Sebastian Molineus

Regional Director for the South Caucasus

Europe and Central Asia, The World Bank

T: +995 (32) 291 30 96

M:+995 (577) 78 78 21

M: +1 (202) 492 3914

www.worldbank.org/en/region/eca

www.linkedin.com/in/molineus

Follow me on Twitter @SMolineus

Sent from my iPad

From: Sebastian-A Molineus

Sent: Monday, May 18, 2020 2:27:00 PM

To: Maya Tskitishvili <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked] <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked] <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked] <[email-masked]>

Cc: Ekaterine Mikabadze <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked] <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked] <[email-masked]>; Evgenij Najdov <[email-masked]>;
Lire Ersado <[email-masked]>; Abdulaziz Faghi <[email-masked]>; Jan Van Bilsen <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked] <[email-masked]>

Subject: RE: Our standing WB offer to support the government of Georgia during the COVID-19 crisis

Dear colleagues –

please find below and attached our ninth report on COVID-19 responses in the area of social protection. You will see plenty of news across the adaptations in administration, generosity and coverage; new regional breakdowns; and a special
delivery section in partnership with the G2Px initiative, including examining the practicalities of coverage expansion with illustrations from 5 case studies.  Enjoy the read!

Over the past two months, the number of countries that have planned, introduced or adapted social protection measures in response to COVID-19 has quadrupled – and those measures
eightfold. As of today, a total of 181 countries, 10 more than last week, have a total of 870 social protection measures. This week’s new countries and territories include Afghanistan, Maldives, Micronesia, Northern
Mariana Islands (US), Papua New Guinea, Qatar, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Vanuatu, and West Bank and Gaza.

Social assistance transfers are the most widely used class of interventions. These non-contributory programs account for 60.1% of
global responses, or 523 measures. Among safety nets, cash transfer programs account for half of intervention by governments, with their 264 COVID-related measures representing one-third (30.3%) of total social protection programs.

Both cash-based and in-kind transfers have been growing steadily, with cash accounting for a much larger number of measures.
While cash only accounts for half of overall social assistance, this is because other measures such as public works and utility waivers also account for a significant non-cash share (26.5%). Cash-based measures are over twice those of in-kind programs.
About 56% of cash transfer measures (148 out of 264) are new programs in 104 countries, while one-fourth of measures (24.6%) are one-off payments. A significant number of new in-kind programs (83) has been also been introduced, accounting for about 69% of
total in-kind measures.

Cash transfers include programs of various duration.
The duration of programs ranges from 1 to 6 months, for an average of 3.1 months. In some cases, programs are tied to the duration of the crisis, hence with uncertain duration. This is the case,
for example, in Morocco and Tuvalu.

The size of cash transfers is relatively generous. Current transfers account for an average 27% of monthly GDP per capita in respective
countries (the highest increase, or 47%, is registered in low income countries). On average, transfers have more than doubled (+134%) compared to average pre-COVID transfer levels (where data is available for a subset of 17 countries). Mongolia’s Child Money
Program is increasing benefits from about MVT 10,000 in pre-Covid time to MNT 100,000.

More and more adaptation! Increases in benefits among preexisting programs are implemented in 45 countries,
including transfer value being increased in 45 programs (e.g., Egypt) and additional payment cycles taking place in 18 programs (e.g., Chile).
Various administrative adaptations are occurring in 41 countries. Coverage extension is underway in 157 countries: this includes expanding coverage of existing programs (23 cases) and 362 new social assistance programs (6 of which universal). Combined,
those adaptations across administration, generosity and coverage in social assistance
benefit over 1.7 billion people (individuals). The same estimate applied only applied to cash transfers lead to an estimated 1.3 billion people benefiting from such adaptations. If we only consider coverage (horizontal expansion) of new and existing cash
transfer schemes, these cover an estimated 890 million people.

One of immediate challenges to scaling up cash transfers in response to COVID-19 is to accurately expand the list of beneficiaries.
A total of 111 countries responding to COVID-19 include an expansion of cash coverage.  The two most common ways of expanding the number of cash transfer recipients are (i) to add households from existing social registries and (ii) accept applications
on-line and/or with mobile applications.  A third approach, far less common, is to use the presence or absence in other large databases to identify new eligible individuals or households.  Whichever approach is used, new beneficiaries must be informed that
they are eligible for benefits.  The most common method is to use mass communication to instruct people to check their status through an on-line or mobile application.  This process is facilitated when an identifier known to the individual such as mobile phone
number or national ID number allows access to this information.  In some cases, an automatic message is sent through the phone provider indicating eligibility status and other program information (e.g. Pakistan and planned in Zimbabwe). New illustrations from
Brazil, Ecuador, Jordan, Pakistan and Peru show how coverage expansion is done in practice.

In terms of social insurance, there has been a remarkable uptick in measures recently – now including 236 measures in 117 countries.
Among the most popular interventions, social security contributions have been waived or subsidized in 56 programs – a level similar to paid sick leave measures (52). Unemployment benefits are present in 69 cases.

The number of labor market interventions is over triple digit. Interventions are now a notable 111 in 74 countries.
Wage subsidies continue to dominate those interventions. As discussed in the previous editions, there is considerable diversity in generosity and accompanying conditions. Alongside wage subsidies, 14 countries are strengthening their active labor market
programs, particularly intermediation services and skills training. Labor market regulations are being adapted in 20 countries.

New analysis shows trends and composition in regional measures.
ECA has the highest upward trend, with LAC accelerating in recent weeks. Su-Saharan Africa has been on a steady raise, with North America relatively flat. Social assistance accounts for most of Africa’s Covid-related
response, with the largest share of social insurance appearing in higher-income countries of North America and ECA. East Asia’s composition shows the highest share of labor market programs globally.

Kind regards,

Sebastian

Sebastian Molineus

Regional Director for the South Caucasus

Europe and Central Asia

T
+995 (32) 291 6238

M
+995 (577) 78 7821

M
+1 (202) 492-3914

E
[email-masked]

W
www.worldbank.org/en/region/eca

@smolineus

www.linkedin.com/in/molineus/

From: Sebastian-A Molineus

Sent: Thursday, May 14, 2020 2:40 PM

To: Maya Tskitishvili <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked];
[email-masked]; [email-masked]

Cc: Ekaterine Mikabadze <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked];
[email-masked]; Evgenij Najdov <[email-masked]>; Lire Ersado <[email-masked]>; Abdulaziz Faghi <[email-masked]>;
Jan Van Bilsen <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked]

Subject: RE: Our standing WB offer to support the government of Georgia during the COVID-19 crisis

FYI. the attached ppt. may be of interest as if offers comparative data.

All countries and territories affected (cases/deaths):* Albania (876/31); Andorra (756/48); Armenia (3,538/47); Austria (15,961/623); Azerbaijan (2,693/33); Belarus (24,873/142); Belgium (53,779/8,761); Bosnia and Herzegovina (2,158/117);
Bulgaria (2,023/95); Croatia (2,207/91); Czech Republic (8,198/283); Denmark (10,789/533); Estonia (1,746/61); Finland (6,003/275); France (178,349/26,994); Germany (173,034/7,713); Gibraltar (147/4); Greece (2,744/152); Greenland (11/0); Hungary (3,313/425);
Iceland (1,801/10); Ireland (23,242/1,488); Isle of Man (330/23); Italy (221,216/30,911); Jersey (294/25); Kazakhstan (5,279/32); Kosovo (884/28); Kyrgyzstan (1,037/12); Latvia (950/18); Liechtenstein (83/1); Lithuania (1,491/50); Luxembourg (3,894/102); Malta
(506/5); Moldova (5,154/182); Monaco (98/4); Montenegro (325/9); Netherlands (43,183/5,529); North Macedonia (1,674/92); Norway (8,152/228); Poland (16,921/839); Portugal (27,913/1,163); Romania (15,778/1,002); Russia (232,243/2,116); San Marino (647/41);
Serbia (10,176/218); Slovakia (1,465/27); Slovenia (1,461/102); Spain (239,639/26,744); Sweden (27,272/3,313); Switzerland (30,380/1,867); Tajikistan (729/21); Turkey (141,475/3,894); Ukraine (16,023/425); United Kingdom (227,737/32,769); United States (1,359,319/81,805);
Uzbekistan (2,519/10)

For real time* updates:  https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6

*Please note there may be a lag in reporting.

Country response

Spain

The number of daily new cases fell on Tuesday to its lowest in more than two months, with 594 reported, bringing the total to 239,639; the number of fatalities rose 176 to 26,920

Spain ordered a two-week quarantine on all travelers arriving from abroad from this Friday in a bid to prevent visitors from sparking a second wave of the coronavirus, a move that will further harm
a tourism sector already reeling from the epidemic

Austria

Austria aims to ease some border controls with Switzerland within days and to end all controls by June, Chancellor said

Bosnia and Herzegovina

A senior Bosnian official in charge of procuring medical equipment to combat the coronavirus outbreak was suspended on Tuesday amid a criminal inquiry into the import of ventilators for COVID-19 patients
that proved defective

Bulgaria

Bulgaria will end its state of emergency on Wednesday, though some restrictions will remain in place and the government will be able to declare an emergency once again if the COVID-19 outbreak escalates,
parliament has decided

Denmark

Denmark is “very unlikely” to be hit by a second wave of coronavirus, the country’s chief epidemiologist said on Tuesday, after the government laid out plans for increased testing and a contact tracing
system

France

France’s death toll from the coronavirus rose by 348 to 26,991 on Tuesday, overtaking Spain to become the country with the world’s fourth-highest number of fatalities after the United States, Britain
and Italy

Across France, primary school pupils on Tuesday sat at least a meter apart in small classes and listened to teachers in masks on their first day back after two months of home-schooling during the coronavirus
lockdown

French health minister said on Tuesday that parks and gardens would remain closed in Paris and the greater Paris region to limit the risk of a second wave of coronavirus infections

Germany

The reproduction rate for the coronavirus pandemic in Germany fell below the critical threshold of 1 to an estimated 0.94 on Tuesday after a 1.07 reading on Monday, the Robert Koch Institute for public
health and disease control said

Greece

Two migrants who arrived on Greece’s outlying Lesbos island have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, migration ministry sources said on Tuesday, adding they were isolated with no contact with
refugee camps on the island

Iceland

Iceland expects to start easing restrictions for visitors arriving from overseas no later than June 15; under a plan still being developed by the authorities, travelers would be given a choice between
a test for COVID-19 upon arrival in Iceland or a two-week quarantine

Italy

Italy’s coalition parties quarreled on Tuesday over a move to grant permits to irregular migrants working in farms and as careers, in a row that delayed the approval of a stimulus package for the coronavirus-hit
economy

Deaths climbed by 172 on Tuesday and daily tally of new cases doubled to 1,402, bringing deaths to 30,911 and cases to 221,216

Poland

Poland’s main opposition grouping threatened on Tuesday to block planning for a delayed presidential election, accusing the ruling coalition of rushing a voting plan through parliament for political
gain

Portugal

Portugal is to take in 500 children from Greek refugee camps as soon as restrictions on movement imposed to contain the spread of the coronavirus outbreak are lifted

Russia

Russia on Tuesday reported 10,899 new cases, bringing the nationwide total past Britain to 232,243, the third highest total worldwide; the death toll from the virus rose by 107 people to 2,116

Russian President’s spokesman said he had tested positive for the novel coronavirus and was receiving treatment at hospital, becoming the fifth senior official to contract the virus

Moscow has begun investigating the safety of a Russian-made medical ventilator, some of which have been sent to the United States, after six people died in hospital fires reported to involve two such
machines

Serbia

Hundreds of Serbian Orthodox pilgrims used hand sanitizer and wore face masks as they entered the Ostrog Monastery on Tuesday, although some flouted social distancing rules designed to tackle the coronavirus
and many kissed the same holy relics and cross

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom’s COVID-19 death toll now exceeds 40,000, highest in Europe, amid 227,737 cases

A woman who worked at one of London’s busiest rail stations has died after having previously been spat at by a man who said he had the new coronavirus, her union said on Tuesday

Vatican

Pope Francis praised the work of nurses around the world on Tuesday, saying the coronavirus crisis had shown how vital their service is, as he appealed to governments to invest more in healthcare

United States

Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday unveiled a $3 trillion-plus coronavirus relief package with funding for states, businesses, food support and families, only to see the measure flatly rejected by Senate Republicans

U.S. government officials are concerned that dual U.S.-Mexico citizens may flee to the United States if the coronavirus outbreak in Mexico gets worse, putting more stress on U.S. hospitals, especially near the border, officials said

Leading U.S. infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci on Tuesday warned Congress that a premature lifting of lockdowns could lead to additional outbreaks of the deadly coronavirus

Restaurants in parts of California can host sit-down dining, and shopping malls throughout the state can open for curbside pickup as coronavirus restrictions ease, Governor said

Kind regards,

Sebastian

Sebastian Molineus

Regional Director for the South Caucasus

Europe and Central Asia

T
+995 (32) 291 6238

M
+995 (577) 78 7821

M
+1 (202) 492-3914

E
[email-masked]

W
www.worldbank.org/en/region/eca

@smolineus

www.linkedin.com/in/molineus/

From: Sebastian-A Molineus

Sent: Thursday, May 07, 2020 7:36 PM

To: Maya Tskitishvili <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked];
[email-masked]; [email-masked]

Cc: Ekaterine Mikabadze <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked];
[email-masked]; Evgenij Najdov <[email-masked]>; Lire Ersado <[email-masked]>; Abdulaziz Faghi <[email-masked]>;
Jan Van Bilsen <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked]

Subject: RE: Our standing WB offer to support the government of Georgia during the COVID-19 crisis

FYI.

All countries and territories affected (cases/deaths):* Albania (832/31); Andorra (753/46); Armenia (2,782/40); Austria (15,684/608); Azerbaijan (2,127/28); Belarus (19,255/112); Belgium (50,781/8,339); Bosnia and Herzegovina (1,987/86);
Bulgaria (1,778/84); Croatia (2,119/85); Cyprus (883/20); Czech Republic (7,933/262); Denmark (10,136/506); Estonia (1,713/55); Faroe Islands (187/0); Finland (5,573/252); France (170,694/25,538); Georgia (610/9); Germany (167,575/7,190); Gibraltar (144/4);
Greece (2,663/147); Greenland (11/0); Holy See (12/0); Hungary (3,111/373); Iceland (1,799/10); Ireland (22,248/1,375); Isle of Man (326/23); Italy (214,457/29,684); Jersey (293/24); Kazakhstan (4,422/30); Kosovo (856/27); Kyrgyzstan (871/12); Latvia (900/17);
Liechtenstein (83/1); Lithuania (1,449/48); Luxembourg (3,851/98); Moldova (4,476/143); Monaco (98/4); Montenegro (324/8); Netherlands (41,518/5,221); North Macedonia (1,539/88); Norway (7,976/216); Poland (14,740/733); Portugal (26,182/1,089); Romania (14,107/864);
Russia (165,929/1,537); San Marino (608/41); Serbia (9,677/200); Slovakia (1,429/25); Slovenia (1,448/99); Spain (239,639/25,613); Sweden (23,918/2,941); Switzerland (30,060/1,805); Tajikistan (379/8); Turkey (131,744/3,584); Ukraine (13,184/327); United Kingdom
(202,356/30,150); United States (1,219,952/72,617); Uzbekistan (2,233/10)

For real time* updates:  https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6

*Please note there may be a lag in reporting.

Country Response

United Kingdom

PM said on Wednesday the situation in care homes had improved, after his health minister denied Britain had prioritized hospitals over many elderly people in homes in its fight against the coronavirus
outbreak

A new government goal of reaching reach 200,000 tests by the end of the month announced by PM is an operational target to increase capacity and widen its COVID-19 testing program, his spokesman said
on Wednesday

PM said on Wednesday his government would set out details of its plan to ease a lockdown against coronavirus on Sunday, hoping that some measures could come into force the next day

Belgium

Belgian shops will be allowed to open from next Monday and people will be able to host others at their homes from Sunday, opening the door for Mother’s Day celebrations, PM said

As Belgium obliges people to wear face masks on public transport and recommends them elsewhere to limit the spread of the coronavirus, deaf people are calling for transparent masks to allow them to
communicate with others

Czech Republic

Immunity to the novel coronavirus is building up very slowly in the Czech Republic, with no more than 4-5% of the population likely to be covered, the health ministry said on Wednesday, after mass testing
for antibodies that started last month

Denmark

Danish shopping malls, cafes and restaurants will be allowed to open next Monday and older children will return to school in the second phase of Denmark’s reopening from its coronavirus lockdown, under
a government proposal set to be debated shortly

France

French president promised guaranteed stipends for out-of-work actors and money for filmmakers whose productions have been cancelled, as part of a bailout for an arts industry shut down by the coronavirus

Germany

Chancellor announced steps on Wednesday to ease the coronavirus lockdown in Germany but at the same time launched an “emergency brake” mechanism allowing for renewed restrictions in case infections
pick up again

The German federal government and the states have agreed that all shops and amateur open-air sports can restart under certain conditions and states will each decide on a gradual opening of various aspects
of public life, a draft document showed

Iceland

Iceland has all but eliminated the coronavirus outbreak as 97% of infected patients have recovered and only two new cases have been confirmed in the last week, the government said in a statement

Italy

Elderly mobsters recently let out of jail over fears they might catch the new coronavirus in Italy’s overcrowded prisons may soon be put back behind bars, justice jinister said

Deaths from the COVID-19 epidemic in Italy climbed by 369 on Wednesday and the daily tally of new infections also rose by 1,444.; the total death toll stands at 29,684 and the number of confirmed cases
amounts to 214,457

Kazakhstan

The spread of the novel coronavirus in Kazakhstan has slowed in recent days, the Central Asian nation’s government said on Wednesday, indicating it could exit a state of emergency next week

Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia

Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia will open their borders to each others’ citizens from May 15, creating a Baltic “travel bubble” within the European Union amid an easing of pandemic restrictions, their
PMs said on Wednesday

Netherlands

The Netherlands has joined several European countries in announcing the easing of its coronavirus lockdown, outlining a four-month plan to phase out social restrictions if the virus remains under control

A Dutch restaurant has come up with an idea on how to offer classy outdoor dining in the age of coronavirus - small glass cabins built for two or three people, creating intimate cocoons on a public
patio

Poland

Poland’s ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party and its junior coalition partner have reached a deal to postpone the May 10 presidential vote and hold it at a later date via postal ballots, the two groupings
said in a statement

EU said Poland must ensure “free and fair” elections, as the country is locked in a spiraling political crisis over a presidential vote due this Sunday

Russia

The number of new coronavirus cases in Russia rose by 10,559, bringing the nationwide tally to 165,929, the fourth consecutive day that cases had risen by more than 10,000; 86 new fatalities from COVID-19
reported, bringing the total death toll in Russia to 1,537

Moscow mayor said on Wednesday the outbreak of the coronavirus had stabilized over the past two weeks, with the growth in cases corresponding to an increase in testing, but said self-isolation should
continue;

President said he supported proposals by Moscow mayor to gradually ease some restrictions aimed at preventing the spread of the novel coronavirus

Russian foreign minister and his British counterpart discussed relations between Moscow and London and voiced intention to improve cooperation, the Russian foreign ministry said on Wednesday

Russia plans to ease its restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of the novel coronavirus in three stages; the plan outlines that at first, people will be allowed to go for walks and exercise on the
streets, and at the second stage would see educational establishments and some service-sector businesses return to operation, with recreational facilities including parks and squares then reopening in the third stage

A cruise ship has arrived in Russia’s northwesterly Murmansk region to accommodate healthy staff from a construction site run by the gas company Novatek, one of Russia’s coronavirus hotspots

Russia’s culture minister has tested positive for the coronavirus, becoming the third confirmed member of the cabinet to catch the disease

Slovakia

Slovakia reopened restaurant terraces, hotels, all shops outside large malls and other businesses on Wednesday, expediting plans to revive the economy thanks to better-than-expected progress in containing
the coronavirus outbreak

Spain

Spanish PM secured enough parliamentary votes on Wednesday to extend a state of emergency for two more weeks, allowing the government to control people’s movements as it gradually relaxes a national
lockdown

Turkey

Turkey said on Wednesday it has brought the coronavirus outbreak under control, two months after it first erupted across the country, and will set out new social guidelines and business practices to
prevent any resurgence

The number of people who have died from COVID-19 in Turkey has risen by 64 to 3,584, and the overall number of cases rose by 2,253 to 131,744

Vatican

Pope Francis said on Wednesday employers must respect the dignity of workers, particularly migrants, despite economic difficulties brought on by the coronavirus crisis

United States

The United States will provide $225 million in emergency aid to Yemen to support food programs, as aid groups there are forced to scale down operations due to Houthi interference and amid a spreading
coronavirus outbreak

New members of coronavirus task force will be announced soon, as its focus turns to medical treatments and easing restrictions on businesses and social life

U.S. cities that have idled mass transit during coronavirus lockdowns are turning to an unusual partner to get essential workers to hospitals, warehouses and factories: ride-hailing company Uber

Two of the largest Roman Catholic archdioceses in America are opening up eight cemeteries for visitors in the New York City area, after closing them weeks ago due to the new coronavirus pandemic

Health officials in the U.S. state of Illinois’ Cook County, which includes the city of Chicago, will probe deaths involving heart attacks and pneumonia for indications of COVID-19 as far back as November,
a county spokeswoman said on Wednesday

Three-quarters of Americans would take a coronavirus vaccine after receiving certain assurances that it was safe, and another 9% would take one as soon as it was available, a recent poll showed

In this year’s mostly virtual commencement ceremonies, thousands of American graduates are adorning their mortarboards with the slogan “Gowns 4 Good” after donating their gowns to healthcare workers
fighting the coronavirus pandemic to use as personal protective equipment

Kind regards,

Sebastian

Sebastian Molineus

Regional Director for the South Caucasus

Europe and Central Asia

T
+995 (32) 291 6238

M
+995 (577) 78 7821

M
+1 (202) 492-3914

E
[email-masked]

W
www.worldbank.org/en/region/eca

@smolineus

www.linkedin.com/in/molineus/

From: Sebastian-A Molineus

Sent: Wednesday, May 06, 2020 3:52 PM

To: Maya Tskitishvili <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked];
[email-masked]; [email-masked]

Cc: Ekaterine Mikabadze <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked];
[email-masked]; Evgenij Najdov <[email-masked]>; Lire Ersado <[email-masked]>; Abdulaziz Faghi <[email-masked]>;
Jan Van Bilsen <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked]

Subject: RE: Our standing WB offer to support the government of Georgia during the COVID-19 crisis

Dear colleagues – please find attached our COVID-19 compendium of trends & developments in key countries across the world.

All countries and territories affected (cases/deaths):* Albania (820/31); Andorra (753/46); Angola (36/2); Armenia (2,619/40); Austria (15,650/606); Azerbaijan (2,060/26); Belarus (18,350/107); Belgium (50,509/8,016); Bosnia and Herzegovina
(1,946/79); Bulgaria (1,704/80); Croatia (2,112/83); Czech Republic (7,878/254); Denmark (10,019/503); Estonia (1,711/55); Finland (5,412/246); France (169,583/25,204); Georgia (604/9); Germany (166,696/6,993); Gibraltar (144/4); Greece (2,642/146); Greenland
(11/0); Hungary (3,065/363); Iceland (1,799/10); Ireland (21,983/1,339); Isle of Man (325/23); Italy (213,013/29,315); Jersey (293/24); Kazakhstan (4,205/29); Kosovo (855/27); Kyrgyzstan (843/11); Latvia (896/17); Liechtenstein (83/1); Lithuania (1,449/46);
Luxembourg (3,840/96); Malta (482/5); Moldova (4,363/136); Monaco (98/4); Montenegro (324/8); Netherlands (41,286/5,185); North Macedonia (1,526/86); Norway (7,928/215); Poland (14,431/716); Romania (13,837/841); Russia (155,370/1,451); San Marino (589/41);
Serbia (9,557/197); Slovakia (1,421/25); Slovenia (1,445/98); Spain (239,639/25,428); Sweden (23,216/2,854); Switzerland (30,009/1,795); Tajikistan (293/7); Turkey (129,491/3,520); Ukraine (12,697/316); United Kingdom (196,239/29,502); United States (1,199,238/70,646);
Uzbekistan (2,207/10)

For real time* updates:  https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6

*Please note there may be a lag in reporting.

Country Response

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom has overtaken Italy to report the highest official death toll from the new coronavirus in Europe, figures released on Tuesday showed, increasing pressure on Prime Minister Boris Johnson
over his response to the crisis

PM will consider evidence provided by scientists at a review on Thursday before taking any decision on the next steps against the coronavirus outbreak, his spokesman said on Tuesday

Ramping up COVID-19 testing earlier would have helped the United Kingdom by allowing it to trace the contacts of those infected with the novel coronavirus, the government’s top scientific advisers told
a parliamentary committee on Tuesday

Austria

Austria’s first loosening of its coronavirus lockdown three weeks ago, in which thousands of shops reopened, has not led to a new spike in infections, though further vigilance is necessary, its health
minister said on Tuesday

Croatia

Croatia’s conservative ruling party will seek a parliamentary election during the summer depending on the evolution of the coronavirus outbreak, one of its top officials said on Tuesday

France

French President said it was unlikely that French people would be able to undertake major foreign trips this summer and that even trips within Europe may have to be limited in order to reduce the risk
of a resurgence of the coronavirus epidemic

France accused Apple on Tuesday of undermining its effort to fight the coronavirus by refusing to help make its iPhones more compatible with a planned “StopCovid” contact-tracing app

Beekeepers in France are celebrating a bumper spring honey harvest after weeks of warm weather but will need a smooth unwinding of the coronavirus lockdown if they are to find a market for their produce

Germany

The reproduction rate for the coronavirus pandemic in Germany is currently estimated at 0.71, the head of public health authority RKI said on Tuesday; the number indicates that 100 infected people infect
on average 71 others, meaning the number of new infections would fall over time

Germany on Monday announced a deal with Roche to get 3 million of the blood tests in May and 5 million every month thereafter

Germany is considering “immunity passports” after securing millions of antibody tests from Swiss drugmaker Roche; however, the health minister said that Germany could only allow coronavirus antibody
tests to help determine how freely people can move once it has advice from its ethics council

Italy

Italy’s PM said on Tuesday foreign policy had not shifted after the country received aid for the coronavirus emergency from both China and Russia, in a response to an interview with U.S. Defense Secretary

Italy plans to give work permits to thousands of irregular migrants to help farms deal with the COVID-19 epidemic that has cut the flow of cheap labor from abroad, a political source said on Tuesday

Netherlands

The mayor of The Hague on Tuesday issued a statement ordering police to break up a demonstration by around 200 people who had gathered to protest against measures ordered by the government to slow
the country’s coronavirus outbreak

The Dutch government has purchased 1 million antibody tests, the health minister said on Tuesday

Poland

The Polish Senate on Tuesday rejected government-sponsored legislation that would allow for a postal vote during a presidential election scheduled for May 10, in a widely anticipated decision

Russia

The number of coronavirus cases in Russia has risen by 10,102 to 155,370; tt also reported 95 new deaths, bringing the total death toll to 1,451

Spain

Spain reported its third day in a row of coronavirus deaths under 200, but a record number of people claiming social security benefits for April showed the cost to the economy of bringing the epidemic
under control; the country now has 239,639 cases and 25,428 deaths

Turkey

The number of people who have died from COVID-19 in Turkey has risen by 59 to 3,520 and the overall number of cases rose by 1,832 to 129,491

Turkey will start easing coronavirus containment measures this week, President said, lifting inter-city travel restrictions in seven provinces and easing a curfew imposed on senior and youth citizens

All main Turkish automotive factories will resume operations as of May 11, industry minister said, a day after President announced a normalization period to restart the economy following the coronavirus
outbreak

Ukraine

The mayor of a town in central Ukraine has unilaterally decided to ease lockdown restrictions, causing a row with President’s government as it seeks to avoid a second wave of novel coronavirus infections

United States

The U.S. Justice Department on Tuesday brought its first criminal charges against people it accused of defrauding the $660 billion Paycheck Protection Program aimed at dulling the coronavirus pandemic’s
heavy hit on the economy

A bipartisan group of Senators in the United States has introduced legislation in Congress that would allow 40,000 immigrant doctors and nurses to gain visas and work permits and join the fight against
the COVID-19 pandemic

The White House is having preliminary talks about when to wind down its coronavirus task force and may start moving coordination of the U.S. response on to federal agencies in late May, Vice President
said

President on Tuesday outlined policies he suggested Congress should consider as it weighs a possible fourth round of coronavirus relief legislation, including payroll tax cuts and a business expense
deduction

New York will work with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to “reimagine” the state’s school system as part of broader reforms in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, Governor said on Tuesday

A new forecast projects nearly 135,000 deaths due to COVID-19 in the United States through the beginning of August mainly due to reopening measures under way, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation
(IHME) at the University of Washington said on Monday

The U.S. government has sent Mexico a plane loaded with ventilators to treat coronavirus patients, as part of an agreement between U.S. and Mexico leaders

Texas announced that nail and hair salons, and barbershops can open on Friday, while gyms and office buildings can open on May 18 with restrictions, in a partial easing of restrictions prompted by
the coronavirus outbreak

COVID-19 hits African-Americans hardest in ‘potential catastrophe of inequality’, US study finds; infection rate is 80 percent higher than among Caucasians, with other ethnic minorities also more likely
to contract disease and the finding highlights social divide and inequalities between the communities and could be happening in other U.S. cities

Kind regards,

Sebastian

Sebastian Molineus

Regional Director for the South Caucasus

Europe and Central Asia

T
+995 (32) 291 6238

M
+995 (577) 78 7821

M
+1 (202) 492-3914

E
[email-masked]

W
www.worldbank.org/en/region/eca

@smolineus

www.linkedin.com/in/molineus/

From: Sebastian-A Molineus <[email-masked]>

Sent: Monday, May 04, 2020 8:52 PM

To: Maya Tskitishvili <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked];
[email-masked]; [email-masked]

Cc: Ekaterine Mikabadze <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked];
[email-masked]; Evgenij Najdov <[email-masked]>; Lire Ersado <[email-masked]>; Abdulaziz Faghi <[email-masked]>;
Jan Van Bilsen <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked]

Subject: Re: Our standing WB offer to support the government of Georgia during the COVID-19 crisis

Dear colleagues - in case you have not yet seen, the link below is the UK government’s draft plan to ease the lockdown measures in the workplace.  As it is rather detailed there may be a number of ideas of interest to your own plans.

https://www.buzzfeed.com/alexwickham/governments-draft-plan-to-ease-lockdown-workpace-in-full

Best regards,

Sebastian

From: Sebastian-A Molineus <[email-masked]>

Sent: Monday, May 4, 2020 17:35

To: Maya Tskitishvili; [email-masked];
[email-masked]; [email-masked]'

Cc: [email-masked]'; Ekaterine Mikabadze;
[email-masked]; [email-masked]; Evgenij Najdov; Lire Ersado; Abdulaziz Faghi; Jan Van Bilsen

Subject: RE: Our standing WB offer to support the government of Georgia during the COVID-19 crisis

Dear colleagues –

FYI, attached a presentation on lessons-learned to ensure for adherence to COVID-19 guidelines. More concretely, the presentation focuses on how to ensure for effective communication campaigns and better leverage existing cash transfer
programs to this end.

Kind regards,

Sebastian

Sebastian Molineus

Regional Director for the South Caucasus

Europe and Central Asia

T
+995 (32) 291 6238

M
+995 (577) 78 7821

M
+1 (202) 492-3914

E
[email-masked]

W
www.worldbank.org/en/region/eca

@smolineus

www.linkedin.com/in/molineus/

From: Sebastian-A Molineus

Sent: Sunday, May 03, 2020 4:28 PM

To: 'Maya Tskitishvili' <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked]; [email-masked]' <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked]

Cc: [email-masked]; 'Ekaterine Mikabadze' <[email-masked]>; [email-masked]' <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked]' <[email-masked]>; Evgenij Najdov <[email-masked]>; Lire Ersado <[email-masked]>; Abdulaziz
Faghi <[email-masked]>; Jan Van Bilsen <[email-masked]>

Subject: RE: Our standing WB offer to support the government of Georgia during the COVID-19 crisis

Dear colleagues –

Please find attached the World Bank’s weekly update on Social Protection measures across the world.  Please, note, that the matrix of country interventions has been modernized/revamped to offer a more user-friendly experience, preceded
by a rapid “country at a glance” overview of key measures in place. Lots of action in 159 countries (8 more since last week). A remarkable uptick of measures in social insurance, in addition to social safety net and labor.

At the bottom of this message you will further find an update on broader COVID-19 trends & developments globally.

Kind regards,

Sebastian

159 x 752
As of today, a total of 159 countries (8 more since last week) have planned, introduced or adapted 752 social protection measures in response to COVID-19. This is over a triple in the number of countries and an eight-fold increase in measures since
the first edition of this living paper (March 20). This week’s new entries include Congo, Dominica, Gambia, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Turks and Caicos, and Tuvalu.

32.4%
Cash transfers include a mix of both new and pre-existing programs of various duration and generosity. Cash transfers include 244 COVID-related measures representing one-third (32.4%) of total COVID-related social protection programs. About 59% of
cash transfer measures (122 out of 207) are new programs in 89 countries, while one-fourth of measures (26%) are one-off payments. The average duration of transfers is 2.9 months. The size of transfers is relatively generous, or 25% of monthly GDP per capita
in respective countries. On average, transfers increased by 88% compared to average pre-COVID transfer levels (where data is available for a subset of 14 countries).

3
Social assistance is being adapted in three ways. This includes expanding coverage, increasing benefits, and making administrative requirements simpler and more user-friendly. Combined, those adaptations in social assistance
benefit over 1.48 billion people (individuals). Specifically, for cash transfers administrative adaptations are occurring in 27 countries. Their coverage extension is underway in 87 countries: this includes expanding coverage of existing programs
(7 countries) and providing new programs in, as mentioned, 89 countries. Combined, those adaptations across administration, generosity and coverage in cash transfers benefit over 1.06 billion people. If we only consider coverage (horizontal expansion) of new
and existing cash transfer schemes, these cover an estimated 566.5 million people.

143%
Cash transfer programs are more than doubling in coverage, including an average of 143% in scale up levels.
Preliminary analysis for a subset of cash transfer programs with comparable data allowed to estimate the scale up of programs relative to pre-COVID19 levels.
Countries like the Philippines and El Salvador are quadrupling their coverage (in the case of Philippines also via multiple new programs), while even countries in Africa like Mauritania are almost doubling coverage.

200+
In terms of social insurance, there has been a remarkable uptick in measures recently – now breaking the ceiling of 200 measures. Gustavo Demarco, guest co-author for this edition, provides us with an overview of key issues and trends in social insurance
in COVID-response

50%+
Labor market interventions remain a key area of action. Wage subsidies continue to dominate those interventions, including accounting for over half of the LM portfolio. Our guest co-author Indhira Santos explores the variety of ways in which those
subsidies are being implemented across countries, as well as broader issues in the world of labor market COVID interventions.

0.6%
What is the full level of investment going into social protection COVID-19 response?
Our preliminary estimates indicate a level slightly higher than half-trillion (567 billion) in US dollars. Social assistance spending equals $539 billion, $488 of which in HICs. For the moment, LIC are investing $247 million in social assistance, while
MICs about $50 billion ($23 billion of which in India). Defined in these terms, the overall global volume of social protection response to COVID-19 is 0.6% of global GDP (nearly $85 trillion).

-------------------------------------------

This and previous 143 links editions are available online
here

Country updates:

All countries and territories affected (cases/deaths):* Armenia (2,148/33); Austria (15,531/589); Azerbaijan (1,854/24); Belarus (14,917/93); Belgium (49,032/7,703); Bosnia and Herzegovina (1,781/70); Bulgaria (1,555/68); Croatia (2,085/75);
Cyprus (857/20); Czech Republic (7,726/240); Denmark (9,509/460); Estonia (1,694/52); Finland (5,051/218); France (169,053/24,594); Georgia (566/6); Germany (163,855/6,670); Gibraltar (144/4); Greece (2,612/140); Greenland (11/0); Holy See (11/0); Hungary
(2,863/323); Iceland (1,798/10); Ireland (20,833/1,265); Isle of Man (315/22); Italy (207,428/28,236); Jersey (290/23); Kazakhstan (3,551/25); Kosovo (806/22); Kyrgyzstan (756/8); Latvia (870/15); Liechtenstein (83/1); Lithuania (1,449/45); Luxembourg (3,802/92);
Malta (467/4); Moldova (3,980/122); Monaco (98/4); Montenegro (322/7); Netherlands (39,988/4,893); North Macedonia (1,494/81); Norway (7,770/210); Poland (13,105/651); Portugal (25,351/1,007); Romania (12,567/744); Russia (114,431/1,169); San Marino (580/41);
Serbia (9,009/179); Slovakia (1,403/23); Slovenia (1,434/92); Spain (239,639/24,543); Sweden (21,520/2,653); Switzerland (29,705/1,754); Tajikistan (15/0); Turkey (122,392/3,258); Ukraine (10,861/272); United Kingdom (177,454/27,510); US (1,094,640/64,324);
Uzbekistan (2,075/9)

For real time* updates:  https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6

*Please note there may be a lag in reporting.

Country Response

Italy

·       Deaths from the COVID-19 epidemic in Italy climbed by 269 on Friday to 28,236 and
the number of confirmed cases reaches 207,428; there are 100,943 active cases, of which 1,578 people are in intensive care and 78,249 have recovered

·       PM apologized on Friday to millions of struggling Italians who have yet to receive
long-promised financial aid meant to help them get through the coronavirus crisis

Azerbaijan

·       Azerbaijan has extended partial lockdown measures until May 31

Czech Republic

·       The Czech Republic outlined rules on Friday for cinemas, hairdressers and other
businesses to re-open on May 11; however, food and drinks are banned at the movies; hairstylists will need to wear both a mask and a protective shield, and manicurists and pedicurists must also wear gloves, with their customers must keep two meters apart

France

·       President warned on Friday that the end of the national lockdown on May 11 would
only be a first step as France looks to move out of the crisis created by the outbreak of the coronavirus

Greece

·       Greek workers and students wearing masks and gloves lined up outside parliament
to commemorate May Day, defying a government ban on movement imposed to fight the coronavirus

Hungary

·       Hungary needs to prepare for a potential second wave of coronavirus cases in October
and November after a likely slowdown in the outbreak’s infection rate in the summer, PM said

Ireland

·       Ireland on Friday announced the first small steps to easing restrictions to slow
the spread of the coronavirus and laid out a roadmap for a gradual re-opening of the economy over the coming months if the virus can be kept under control

·       Ireland’s cabinet is currently agreeing to a slight easing of coronavirus restrictions
that will allow those aged over 70 to go outside of their homes

Portugal

·       Hundreds gathered in Portugal’s capital Lisbon on Friday to celebrate Labor Day,
observing strict social distancing rules in a smaller-than-usual event to show solidarity with those left jobless due to the coronavirus outbreak

Russia

·       Russia on Friday reported a record daily rise in the number of confirmed coronavirus
cases, with 7,933 cases reported, bringing the total to 114,431; 96 people had died, raising the death toll up to 1,169

Spain

·       Spain’s coronavirus death toll rose to 24,824 on Friday as 281 more people died;
the number of cases rose to a total 215,216

·       Spain closed a giant temporary hospital in Madrid that had become a symbol of its
fight against the coronavirus pandemic on Friday and people prepared to emerge from their homes for walks in the street after seven weeks of strict lockdown

Turkey

·       The number of people who have died from COVID-19 in Turkey has risen by 84 to 3,258,
and 2,188 new cases has brought the total number of cases to 122,392

United Kingdom

·       Britain has hit its target of carrying out 100,000 COVID-19 tests a day, health
minister said on Friday, stressing that the program was crucial to helping ease a national lockdown; 122,347 tests were conducted on Friday

·       Many Britons would be uncomfortable leaving their homes even if the government
ordered the lifting lockdown restrictions in a month’s time, according to a poll on Friday

·       People from some ethnic minorities in Britain are dying in disproportionate numbers
from COVID-19, possibly in part because they are more likely to work in healthcare and other sectors most exposed to the virus, a leading think tank said on Friday

United States

·       The U.S. Navy hospital ship Comfort departed New York harbor, just a month after
arriving to help ease the strain on overburdened city hospitals dealing with the novel coronavirus outbreak

·       U.S. manufacturing activity plunged to an 11-year low in April as the novel coronavirus
wreaked havoc on supply chains, suggesting the economy was sinking deeper into recession

·       Treasury said private schools with significant endowments and have taken loans
from the coronavirus stimulus law should return them

·       A report released by CDC highlighted four main factors that accelerated transmission
in March: 1) continued importation of the virus by travelers infected elsewhere, such as on cruise ships; 2) attendance at professional and social events, which amplified the spread; 3) introduction of the virus into facilities prone to amplification, including
nursing homes and high-density urban areas; 4) problems detecting virus, including limited testing, the virus’ emergence during flu season, and “cryptic transmission” from people who were asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic

·       More than 4,900 workers in meat and poultry processing facilities have contracted
Covid-19 and at least 20 have died, according to CDC report released Friday

·       New York Governor said all state schools would stay closed for the rest of the
academic year due to the coronavirus pandemic, even as hospitalizations and the daily death toll fell to their lowest levels in more than a month

·       New York City’s subway is taking the unprecedented step of halting overnight service
in order to clean train cars, a likely prelude to bigger changes as the largest U.S. mass transit system works to rebound from a pandemic that has slashed ridership

·       Hundreds of demonstrators gathered in Huntington Beach, California, a day after
the governor announced an order to close all beaches in Orange County

Kind regards,

Sebastian

Sebastian Molineus

Regional Director for the South Caucasus

Europe and Central Asia

T
+995 (32) 291 6238

M
+995 (577) 78 7821

M
+1 (202) 492-3914

E
[email-masked]

W
www.worldbank.org/en/region/eca

@smolineus

www.linkedin.com/in/molineus/

From: Sebastian-A Molineus

Sent: Thursday, April 30, 2020 8:08 PM

To: Maya Tskitishvili <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked];
[email-masked]

Cc: [email-masked]; Ekaterine Mikabadze <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked]; Evgenij Najdov <[email-masked]>; Lire Ersado <[email-masked]>; Abdulaziz Faghi
<[email-masked]>; Jan Van Bilsen <[email-masked]>

Subject: RE: Our standing WB offer to support the government of Georgia during the COVID-19 crisis

Dear colleagues –

FYI and I trust you will find this COVID-19 update on how other countries are addressing/ leading their response to the pandemic useful.

Country Response

Italy

Italian PM defended himself on Tuesday from widespread criticism of his highly cautious plans for a slow-placed end to Europe’s longest coronavirus lockdown

Workers in face masks laid the final section of a new viaduct in Genoa on Tuesday, as Italy’s prime minister paid tribute to the 43 people killed when the road bridge it is replacing collapsed less
than two years ago

Austria

Austria will take further steps to ease its lockdown on Friday, allowing events with up to 10 people and instructing the public they no longer need a specific reason to leave home, the government said
on Tuesday

Czech Republic

The lower house of the Czech parliament voted on Tuesday to extend a state of emergency until May 17, a week less than the government had sought, as the country charts a course to emerge from a coronavirus
lockdown earlier than forecast

France

France will begin to ease its coronavirus lockdown from May 11 to avoid an economic meltdown, PM said on Tuesday, but he warned that infections would spiral higher again if the country moved too swiftly

France will implement a new doctrine on COVID-19 testing from May 11 with the aim of testing everyone who has come into contact with people who are infected, and the government had set the goal of
carrying out at least 700,000 tests per week

The French parliament will not discuss government plans for a coronavirus contact-tracing app during Tuesday’s debate about the end of the lockdown period

French secondary school pupils returning to school next month after a coronavirus lockdown will be required to wear masks

Non-essential French retailers can re-open their doors from May 11, but they will have the right to insist that shoppers wear masks on the premises

Germany

Governments should focus on climate protection when considering fiscal stimulus packages to support an economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, German Chancellor said

Greece

Greek PM said restrictions on citizens’ movements would be lifted and more shops allowed to reopen from May 4 in a gradual easing of a lockdown imposed to curb the spread of the new coronavirus

Hungary

Hungary’s government plans to ease the lockdown and has outlined of the plans on Tuesday; starting next week, smaller retail outlets may open and over the course of May, a gradual opening of hotels,
restaurants and coffee shops may follow

Portugal

President said Portugal’s lockdown will be lifted gradually from May 3

Romania

A parliament election in Romania scheduled for late November or early December might not take place this year unless the new coronavirus spread is contained, President said

Russia

President extended coronavirus lockdown measures for another two weeks on Tuesday, while ordering his government to begin preparations for a gradual lifting of the curbs from mid-May

Spain

Spanish PM announced on Tuesday a four-phase plan to lift the lockdown with an aim to return to normality by the end of June; the lifting of the strict measures will begin on May 4 and vary from region
to region depending on factors such as how the rate of infection evolves, the number of intensive care beds available locally and how regions comply with distancing rules, he said

On the tourism-dependent Spanish island of Mallorca, a total shutdown of hotels due to the coronavirus outbreak has destroyed livelihoods across the sector, from reception staff to farmers who provide
food for restaurants

Turkey

Turkey’s government aims to begin reviving the economy in late May after a sharp slowdown due to measures to contain the coronavirus outbreak, while minimizing the risk of a second wave of infections,
a senior official said on Tuesday

The traditional lighting that hangs between the minarets of Turkish mosques, usually packed for evening prayers in the holy month of Ramadan, is urging Turks to stay at home this year as the country
battles the coronavirus pandemic

United Kingdom

Some children in the United Kingdom with no underlying health conditions have died from a rare inflammatory syndrome which researchers believe to be linked to COVID-19, Health Secretary said

Britain is not yet at the point of wanting to change its strict guidelines on social distancing to curb the spread of COVID-19, with the government focusing on reviewing the measures by May 7, PM said
on Tuesday

Scotland’s First Minister has urged people to start wearing a face mask if they are in enclosed places such as public transport and shops, diverging for now from the official advice from London

Vatican

Pope Francis urged people to obey rules aimed at preventing a devastating second wave of infections as their leaders begin to ease coronavirus lockdowns

United States

A Turkish military plane carrying medical supplies and protective equipment was heading for the United States on Tuesday to deliver aid

Lawmakers in the House of Representatives will not return to Washington next week as planned, due to the continuing risk of coronavirus infection, Democratic leaders said on Tuesday, in a reversal
of plans outlined only a day earlier

U.S is considering having passengers on international flights from coronavirus hot spots be tested for the virus

U.S meat processing plants facing concerns about coronavirus outbreaks may stay open to protect the country’s food supply, a senior administration official said

Tourists and other visitors to the U.S Capitol and adjacent congressional offices will continue to be suspended until May 16, Senate and House of Representatives officials said

New York Governor said that new hospitalizations for the novel coronavirus dropped to a one-month low and laid out a plan to employ thousands of case investigators under criteria for reopening his
state

Detroit residents waited for hours on Tuesday to get free COVID-19 tests at a new facility that for the first time offered testing to people who did not already have symptoms of the disease and a doctor’s
authorization for the test

Some California workplaces, schools and childcare facilities can gradually reopen once the state improves coronavirus testing and contact tracing, the state’s health officer said

Ohio was holding nominating contests largely by mail on Tuesday after voting originally scheduled for March 17 was delayed and in-person balloting curtailed, as the coronavirus pandemic further disrupted
the U.S election season

YouTube said it would start showing text and links from third-party fact-checkers to U.S viewers, part of efforts to curb misinformation of COVID-19 on the site

As Detroit’s automakers seek to restart their U.S plants during the coronavirus pandemic, two health experts advising Michigan’s governor and the United Auto Workers union warned against an over-reliance
on masks and face shields to keep workers safe

Fewer than half of Americans plan to go to sports events, concerts, movies and amusement parks when they reopen to the public until there is a proven coronavirus vaccine, according to a recent poll

Kind regards,

Sebastian

Sebastian Molineus

Regional Director for the South Caucasus

Europe and Central Asia

T
+995 (32) 291 6238

M
+995 (577) 78 7821

M
+1 (202) 492-3914

E
[email-masked]

W
www.worldbank.org/en/region/eca

@smolineus

www.linkedin.com/in/molineus/

From: Sebastian-A Molineus

Sent: Monday, April 20, 2020 5:16 PM

To: [email-masked];
[email-masked]; Mikheil Chkhenkeli <[email-masked]>; Maya Tskitishvili <[email-masked]>

Cc: [email-masked]; Ekaterine Mikabadze <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked]; Evgenij Najdov <[email-masked]>; Lire Ersado <[email-masked]>; Abdulaziz Faghi
<[email-masked]>; Jan Van Bilsen <[email-masked]>

Subject: RE: Our standing WB offer to support the government of Georgia during the COVID-19 crisis

Dear colleagues –

I trust you all had a nice Easter weekend with your families.  For this coming week, please find below a series of publications and good practice notes prepared by the World Bank.  I trust you will forward these to your teams and other
relevant government departments preparing the government’s policy responses; please do let me know if you would like for me to incl. others in this distribution list (I try to target as much as possible to avoid spamming you with emails).

More concretely:

Phase 2 support: The first is a longer publication (“COVID-19 Policy Response.pdf”), which sets out to advise governments as they prepare for the second phase of the response to COVID-19, focusing on social protection and economic recovery.  This note
addresses issues of interconnection between sectoral and thematic themes, prioritization and sequencing of policies, and presents different policy response options to countries based on their profile and conditions.

Education: The second is a paper entitled “COVID-19 Education Shocks and Policy Responses”.  I also attach a ppt titled “Plan Edu GP and COVID19 Operational support April 15” that summarizes country policy responses and possible World Bank operational
responses in the three stages of: (i) coping; (ii) managing continuity; and (iii) improvement/acceleration.

Social protection: I also attach a blog by our Global Director for Social Protection on how social protection can help countries cope with COVID-19:

https://blogs.worldbank.org/voices/how-social-protection-can-help-countries-cope-covid-19.  Attached as well is the latest update on Social Protection measures being taken across the globe (titled: “Country SP COVID responses_April17.pdf”).

COVID-19 and the digital agenda: Please further see attached a document (“ICT_Response(Flattening the curve on COVID-19.pdf”) on how Korea responded to a pandemic using information and communication technology.  I believe there is a major opportunity
to use the current crisis for Georgia to fully transition to the digital economy, i.e. to digitize govt. service delivery, embrace the FinTech agenda, as well as e-health agenda.

Support to distressed businesses: A global compendium of reform measures taken by 38 countries on fiscal and regulatory relief being provided in support of distressed SMEs and large corporates, which you can find here (see

interactive map) and on our WB
Finance and Coronavirus (COVID-19) webpage.

COVID-19 and trade: A note (“COVID-19 Trade Watch – April 2020.pdf”) tracking country and industry patterns, the depth of the decline of trade, and the eventual reversal.  Of note is the beginning of a dramatic drop in international trade as a result
of COVID-19. The trade slowdown, initially most evident in China, is increasingly spreading to other regions.

Support to tourism: And finally, here is a paper on the impact and policy responses for the tourism sector during the COVID-19 pandemic.

https://worldbankgroup.sharepoint.com/sites/gge/Documents/COVID-19%20Response%20Documents/200403%20FCI%20Sector%20Note%20-%20Tourism%20and%20COVID%2019%20Key%202%20Pager%20CLEAN%20copy_Martha%20JP%20rev.pdf?deliveryName=DM11151

The OECD has created a useful Country Policy Tracker system that summarizes health, fiscal and social measures.  It is updated daily and includes developing countries as well.
http://www.oecd.org/coronavirus/en/#key-impacts

Kind regards,

Sebastian

Sebastian Molineus

Regional Director for the South Caucasus

Europe and Central Asia

T
+995 (32) 291 6238

M
+995 (577) 78 7821

M
+1 (202) 492-3914

E
[email-masked]

W
www.worldbank.org/en/region/eca

@smolineus

www.linkedin.com/in/molineus/

From: Sebastian-A Molineus

Sent: Friday, April 10, 2020 4:54 PM

To: [email-masked];
[email-masked]

Cc: [email-masked]; Ekaterine Mikabadze <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked]; Evgenij Najdov <[email-masked]>; Lire Ersado <[email-masked]>; Abdulaziz Faghi
<[email-masked]>; Jan Van Bilsen <[email-masked]>

Subject: RE: Our standing WB offer to support the government of Georgia during the COVID-19 crisis

Dear Natia and Ivane –

Please find attached three new World Bank policy notes to help our clients combat the COVID-19 crisis.

The first focuses on the tourism sector and looks at the crisis’ impact on the sector and policy responses.

The second is on revenue administration applications, looking at potential tax administration and customs measures to respond to the crisis.

And the third is an 2-page action plan on public debt management and essentially offers World Bank advisory support on how to finance their fiscal response.

Kind regards,

Sebastian

Sebastian Molineus

Regional Director for the South Caucasus

Europe and Central Asia

T
+995 (32) 291 6238

M
+995 (577) 78 7821

M
+1 (202) 492-3914

E
[email-masked]

W
www.worldbank.org/en/region/eca

@smolineus

www.linkedin.com/in/molineus/

From: Sebastian-A Molineus

Sent: Friday, April 03, 2020 9:37 PM

To: [email-masked];
[email-masked]

Cc: [email-masked];
[email-masked]; Evgenij Najdov <[email-masked]>; Lire Ersado <[email-masked]>; Abdulaziz Faghi <[email-masked]>;
Jan Van Bilsen <[email-masked]>

Subject: Re: Our standing WB offer to support the government of Georgia during the COVID-19 crisis

My last email for the week and over the weekend, I promise, but I did think it important to share this scientific article confirming the effectiveness of surgical face masks (contrary what was initially reported) as it could influence
preventive measures taken by the govt. moving forward.

Respiratory virus shedding in exhaled breath and efficacy of face masks | Nature Medicine

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-0843-2

Respiratory virus shedding in exhaled breath and efficacy of face masks

·  ,03 April 2020

Nature Medicine (2020)Cite this article

4115 Altmetric

Metrics

Abstract

We identified seasonal human coronaviruses, influenza viruses and rhinoviruses in exhaled breath and coughs of children and adults with acute respiratory illness. Surgical face masks significantly
reduced detection of influenza virus RNA in respiratory droplets and coronavirus RNA in aerosols, with a trend toward reduced detection of coronavirus RNA in respiratory droplets. Our results indicate that surgical face masks could prevent transmission of
human coronaviruses and influenza viruses from symptomatic individuals.

Main

Respiratory virus infections cause a broad and overlapping spectrum of symptoms collectively referred to as acute respiratory virus illnesses (ARIs) or more commonly the ‘common cold’.
Although mostly mild, these ARIs can sometimes cause severe disease and death1.
These viruses spread between humans through direct or indirect contact, respiratory droplets (including larger droplets that fall rapidly near the source as well as coarse aerosols with aerodynamic diameter >5 µm) and fine-particle aerosols (droplets and droplet
nuclei with aerodynamic diameter ≤5 µm)2,3.
Although hand hygiene and use of face masks, primarily targeting contact and respiratory droplet transmission, have been suggested as important mitigation strategies against influenza virus transmission4,
little is known about the relative importance of these modes in the transmission of other common respiratory viruses2,3,5.
Uncertainties similarly apply to the modes of transmission of COVID-19 (refs. 6,7).

Some health authorities recommend that masks be worn by ill individuals to prevent onward transmission (source control)4,8.
Surgical face masks were originally introduced to protect patients from wound infection and contamination from surgeons (the wearer) during surgical procedures, and were later adopted to protect healthcare workers against acquiring infection from their patients.
However, most of the existing evidence on the filtering efficacy of face masks and respirators comes from in vitro experiments with nonbiological particles9,10,
which may not be generalizable to infectious respiratory virus droplets. There is little information on the efficacy of face masks in filtering respiratory viruses and reducing viral release from an individual with respiratory infections8,
and most research has focused on influenza11,12.

Here we aimed to explore the importance of respiratory droplet and aerosol routes of transmission with a particular focus on coronaviruses, influenza viruses and rhinoviruses,
by quantifying the amount of respiratory virus in exhaled breath of participants with medically attended ARIs and determining the potential efficacy of surgical face masks to prevent respiratory virus transmission.

Results

We screened 3,363 individuals in two study phases, ultimately enrolling 246 individuals who provided exhaled breath samples (Extended Data Fig. 1).
Among these 246 participants, 122 (50%) participants were randomized to not wearing a face mask during the first exhaled breath collection and 124 (50%) participants were randomized to wearing a face mask. Overall, 49 (20%) voluntarily provided a second exhaled
breath collection of the alternate type.

Infections by at least one respiratory virus were confirmed by reverse transcription PCR (RT–PCR) in 123 of 246 (50%) participants. Of these 123 participants, 111 (90%)
were infected by human (seasonal) coronavirus (n = 17), influenza virus (n = 43) or rhinovirus (n = 54) (Extended Data Figs. 1 and 2),
including one participant co-infected by both coronavirus and influenza virus and another two participants co-infected by both rhinovirus and influenza virus. These 111 participants were the focus of our analyses.

There were some minor differences in characteristics of the 111 participants with the different viruses (Table 1a).
Overall, 24% of participants had a measured fever ≥37.8 °C, with patients with influenza more than twice as likely than patients infected with coronavirus and rhinovirus to have a measured fever. Coronavirus-infected participants coughed the most with an average
of 17 (s.d. = 30) coughs during the 30-min exhaled breath collection. The profiles of the participants randomized to with-mask versus without-mask groups were similar (Supplementary Table 1).

Table 1a Characteristics of individuals with symptomatic coronavirus, influenza virus or rhinovirus infection

Full size table

We tested viral shedding (in terms of viral copies per sample) in nasal swabs, throat swabs, respiratory droplet samples and aerosol samples and compared the latter two
between samples collected with or without a face mask (Fig. 1). On average, viral shedding was higher
in nasal swabs than in throat swabs for each of coronavirus (median 8.1 log10 virus copies per sample versus 3.9), influenza virus (6.7 versus 4.0)
and rhinovirus (6.8 versus 3.3), respectively. Viral RNA was identified from respiratory droplets and aerosols for all three viruses, including 30%, 26% and 28% of respiratory droplets and 40%, 35% and 56% of aerosols collected while not wearing a face mask,
from coronavirus, influenza virus and rhinovirus-infected participants, respectively (Table 1b). In
particular for coronavirus, we identified OC43 and HKU1 from both respiratory droplets and aerosols, but only identified NL63 from aerosols and not from respiratory droplets (Supplementary Table 2 and
Extended Data Fig. 3).

Fig. 1: Efficacy of surgical face masks in reducing respiratory virus shedding in respiratory droplets and aerosols of symptomatic individuals with coronavirus,
influenza virus or rhinovirus infection.

a–c, Virus copies per sample collected in nasal swab (red), throat swab (blue) and respiratory droplets
collected for 30min while not wearing (dark green) or wearing (light green) a surgical face mask, and aerosols collected for 30min while not wearing (brown) or wearing (orange) a face mask, collected from individuals with acute respiratory symptoms who were
positive for coronavirus (a), influenza virus (b) and rhinovirus (c), as determined by RT–PCR in any samples. Pvalues for mask intervention as predictor of log10 virus
copies per sample in an unadjusted univariate Tobit regression model which allowed for censoring at the lower limit of detection of the RT–PCR assay are shown, with significant differences in bold. For nasal swabs and throat swabs, all infected individuals
were included (coronavirus, n=17; influenza virus, n=43; rhinovirus, n=54). For respiratory droplets and aerosols, numbers of infected individuals who provided exhaled breath samples while not wearing or wearing a surgical face mask, respectively
were: coronavirus (n=10 and 11), influenza virus (n=23 and 28) and rhinovirus (n=36 and 32). A subset of participants provided exhaled breath samples for both mask interventions (coronavirus, n=4; influenza virus, n=8; rhinovirus, n=14).
The box plots indicate the median with the interquartile range (lower and upper hinge) and ±1.5×interquartile range from the first and third quartile (lower and upper whiskers).

Full size image

Table 1b Efficacy of surgical face masks in reducing respiratory virus frequency of detection and viral shedding in respiratory droplets and aerosols of symptomatic
individuals with coronavirus, influenza virus or rhinovirus infection

Full size table

We detected coronavirus in respiratory droplets and aerosols in 3 of 10 (30%) and 4 of 10 (40%) of the samples collected without face masks, respectively, but did not detect
any virus in respiratory droplets or aerosols collected from participants wearing face masks, this difference was significant in aerosols and showed a trend toward reduced detection in respiratory droplets (Table 1b).
For influenza virus, we detected virus in 6 of 23 (26%) and 8 of 23 (35%) of the respiratory droplet and aerosol samples collected without face masks, respectively. There was a significant reduction by wearing face masks to 1 of 27 (4%) in detection of influenza
virus in respiratory droplets, but no significant reduction in detection in aerosols (Table 1b). Moreover,
among the eight participants who had influenza virus detected by RT–PCR from without-mask aerosols, five were tested by viral culture and four were culture-positive. Among the six participants who had influenza virus detected by RT–PCR from with-mask aerosols,
four were tested by viral culture and two were culture-positive. For rhinovirus, there were no significant differences between detection of virus with or without face masks, both in respiratory droplets and in aerosols (Table 1b).
Conclusions were similar in comparisons of viral shedding (Table 1b). In addition, we found a significant
reduction in viral shedding (Supplementary Table 2) in respiratory droplets for OC43 (Extended Data
Fig. 4) and influenza B virus (Extended Data Fig. 5)
and in aerosols for NL63 (Extended Data Fig. 4).

We identified correlations between viral loads in different samples (Extended Data Figs. 6–8)
and some evidence of declines in viral shedding by time since onset for influenza virus but not for coronavirus or rhinovirus (Extended Data Fig. 9).
In univariable analyses of factors associated with detection of respiratory viruses in various sample types, we did not identify significant association in viral shedding with days since symptom onset (Supplementary Table 3)
for respiratory droplets or aerosols (Supplementary Tables 4–6).

A subset of participants (72 of 246, 29%) did not cough at all during at least one exhaled breath collection, including 37 of 147 (25%) during the without-mask and 42 of
148 (28%) during the with-mask breath collection. In the subset for coronavirus (n = 4), we did not detect any virus in respiratory droplets or aerosols from any participants. In the subset for influenza virus (n = 9), we detected virus in aerosols
but not respiratory droplets from one participant. In the subset for rhinovirus (n = 17), we detected virus in respiratory droplets from three participants, and we detected virus in aerosols in five participants.

Discussion

Our results indicate that aerosol transmission is a potential mode of transmission for coronaviruses as well as influenza viruses and rhinoviruses. Published studies detected respiratory
viruses13,14such
as influenza12,15 and
rhinovirus16 from
exhaled breath, and the detection of SARS-CoV17and
MERS-CoV18 from
air samples (without size fractionation) collected from hospitals treating patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome and Middle East respiratory syndrome, but ours demonstrates detection of human seasonal coronaviruses in exhaled breath, including the
detection of OC43 and HKU1 from respiratory droplets and NL63, OC43 and HKU1 from aerosols.

Our findings indicate that surgical masks can efficaciously reduce the emission of influenza virus particles into the environment in respiratory droplets, but not in aerosols12.
Both the previous and current study used a bioaerosol collecting device, the Gesundheit-II (G-II)12,15,19,
to capture exhaled breath particles and differentiated them into two size fractions, where exhaled breath coarse particles >5 μm (respiratory droplets) were collected by impaction with a 5-μm slit inertial Teflon impactor and the remaining fine particles ≤5 μm
(aerosols) were collected by condensation in buffer. We also demonstrated the efficacy of surgical masks to reduce coronavirus detection and viral copies in large respiratory droplets and in aerosols (Table 1b).
This has important implications for control of COVID-19, suggesting that surgical face masks could be used by ill people to reduce onward transmission.

Among the samples collected without a face mask, we found that the majority of participants with influenza virus and coronavirus infection did not shed detectable virus
in respiratory droplets or aerosols, whereas for rhinovirus we detected virus in aerosols in 19 of 34 (56%) participants (compared to 4 of 10 (40%) for influenza and 8 of 23 (35%) for coronavirus). For those who did shed virus in respiratory droplets and aerosols,
viral load in both tended to be low (Fig. 1). Given the high collection efficiency of the G-II (ref. 19)
and given that each exhaled breath collection was conducted for 30 min, this might imply that prolonged close contact would be required for transmission to occur, even if transmission was primarily via aerosols, as has been described for rhinovirus colds20.
Our results also indicate that there could be considerable heterogeneity in contagiousness of individuals with coronavirus and influenza virus infections.

The major limitation of our study was the large proportion of participants with undetectable viral shedding in exhaled breath for each of the viruses studied. We could have
increased the sampling duration beyond 30 min to increase the viral shedding being captured, at the cost of acceptability in some participants. An alternative approach would be to invite participants to perform forced coughs during exhaled breath collection12.
However, it was the aim of our present study to focus on recovering respiratory virus in exhaled breath in a real-life situation and we expected that some individuals during an acute respiratory illness would not cough much or at all. Indeed, we identified
virus RNA in a small number of participants who did not cough at all during the 30-min exhaled breath collection, which would suggest droplet and aerosol routes of transmission are possible from individuals with no obvious signs or symptoms. Another limitation
is that we did not confirm the infectivity of coronavirus or rhinovirus detected in exhaled breath. While the G-II was designed to preserve viability of viruses in aerosols, and in the present study we were able to identify infectious influenza virus in aerosols,
we did not attempt to culture coronavirus or rhinovirus from the corresponding aerosol samples.

Methods

Study design

Participants were recruited year-round from March 2013 through May 2016 in a general outpatient clinic of a private hospital in Hong Kong. As routine practice, clinic staff
screened all individuals attending the clinics for respiratory and any other symptoms regardless of the purpose of the visit at triage. Study staff then approached immediately those who reported at least one of the following symptoms of ARI for further screening:
fever ≥37.8 °C, cough, sore throat, runny nose, headache, myalgia and phlegm. Individuals who reported ≥2 ARI symptoms, within 3 d of illness onset and ≥11 years of age were eligible to participate. After explaining the study to and obtaining informed consent
from the participants, a rapid influenza diagnostic test, the Sofia Influenza A + B Fluorescent Immunoassay Analyzer (cat. no. 20218, Quidel), was used to identify influenza A or B virus infection as an incentive to participate. All participants provided a
nasal swab for the rapid test and an additional nasal swab and a separate throat swab for subsequent virologic confirmation at the laboratory. All participants also completed a questionnaire to record basic information including age, sex, symptom severity,
medication, medical conditions and smoking history. In the first phase of the study from March 2013 to February 2014 (‘Influenza Study’), the result of the rapid test was used to determine eligibility for further participation in the study and exhaled breath
collection, whereas in the second phase of the study from March 2014 to May 2016 (‘Respiratory Virus Study’), the rapid test did not affect eligibility. Eligible participants were then invited to provide an exhaled breath sample for 30 min in the same clinic
visit.

Before exhaled breath collection, each participant was randomly allocated in a 1:1 ratio to either wearing a surgical face mask (cat. no. 62356, Kimberly-Clark) or not during
the collection. To mimic the real-life situation, under observation by the study staff, participants were asked to attach the surgical mask themselves, but instruction on how to wear the mask properly was given when the participant wore the mask incorrectly.
Participants were instructed to breathe as normal during the collection, but (natural) coughing was allowed and the number of coughs was recorded by study staff. Participants were then invited to provide a second exhaled breath sample of the alternate type
(for example if the participant was first assigned to wearing a mask they would then provide a second sample without a mask), but most participants did not agree to stay for a second measurement because of time constraints. Participants were compensated for
each 30-min exhaled breath collection with a supermarket coupon worth approximately US$30 and all participants were gifted a tympanic thermometer worth approximately US$20.

Ethical approval

Written informed consent was obtained from all participants ≥18 years of age and written informed consent was obtained from parents or legal guardians of participants 11–17
years of age in addition to their own written informed consent. The study protocol was approved by the Institutional Review Board of The University of Hong Kong and the Clinical and Research Ethics Committee of Hong Kong Baptist Hospital.

Collection of swabs and exhaled breath particles

Nasal swabs and throat swabs were collected separately, placed in virus transport medium, stored and transported to the laboratory at
2–8 °C and the virus transport medium was aliquoted and stored at −70 °C until further analysis. Exhaled breath particles were captured and differentiated into two size fractions, the coarse fraction
containing particles with aerodynamic diameter >5 μm (referred to here as ‘respiratory droplets’), which included droplets up to approximately 100 µm in diameter and the fine fraction with particles ≤5 μm (referred to here as ‘aerosols’) by the G-II bioaerosol
collecting device12,15,19.
In the G-II device, exhaled breath coarse particles >5 μm were collected by a 5-μm slit inertial Teflon impactor and the remaining fine particles ≤5 μm were condensed and collected into approximately 170 ml of 0.1% BSA/PBS. Both the impactor and the condensate
were stored and transported to the laboratory at 2–8 °C. The virus on the impactor was recovered into
1 ml and the condensate was concentrated into 2 ml of 0.1% BSA/PBS, aliquoted and stored at −70 °C until further analysis. In a validation study, the G-II was able to recover over 85% of fine particles >0.05 µm in size and had comparable collection efficiency
of influenza virus as the SKC BioSampler19.

Laboratory testing

Samples collected from the two studies were tested at the same time. Nasal swab samples were first tested by a diagnostic-use viral panel, xTAG Respiratory Viral Panel (Abbott
Molecular) to qualitatively detect 12 common respiratory viruses and subtypes including coronaviruses (NL63, OC43, 229E and HKU1), influenza A (nonspecific, H1 and H3) and B viruses, respiratory syncytial virus, parainfluenza virus (types 1–4), adenovirus,
human metapneumovirus and enterovirus/rhinovirus. After one or more of the candidate respiratory viruses was detected by the viral panel from the nasal swab, all the samples from the same participant (nasal swab, throat swab, respiratory droplets and aerosols)
were then tested with RT–PCR specific for the candidate virus(es) for determination of virus concentration in the samples. Infectious influenza virus was identified by viral culture using MDCK cells as described previously21,
whereas viral culture was not performed for coronavirus and rhinovirus.

Statistical analyses

The primary outcome of the study was virus generation rate in tidal breathing of participants infected by different respiratory viruses and the efficacy of face masks in
preventing virus dissemination in exhaled breath, separately considering the respiratory droplets and aerosols. The secondary outcomes were correlation between viral shedding in nose swabs, throat swabs, respiratory droplets and aerosols and factors affecting
viral shedding in respiratory droplets and aerosols.

We identified three groups of respiratory viruses with the highest frequency of infection as identified by RT–PCR, namely coronavirus (including NL63, OC43, HKU1 and 229E),
influenza virus and rhinovirus, for further statistical analyses. We defined viral shedding as log10 virus copies per sample and plotted viral shedding
in each sample (nasal swab, throat swab, respiratory droplets and aerosols); the latter two were stratified by mask intervention. As a proxy for the efficacy of face masks in preventing transmission of respiratory viruses via respiratory droplet and aerosol
routes, we compared the respiratory virus viral shedding in respiratory droplet and aerosol samples between participants wearing face masks or not, by comparing the frequency of detection with a two-sided Fisher’s exact test and by comparing viral load (defined
as log10 virus copies per sample) by an unadjusted univariate Tobit regression model, which allowed for censoring at the lower limit of detection
of the RT–PCR assay. We also used the unadjusted univariate Tobit regression to investigate factors affecting viral shedding in respiratory droplets and aerosols without mask use, for example age, days since symptom onset, previous influenza vaccination, current
medication and number of coughs during exhaled breath collection. We investigated correlations between viral shedding in nasal swab, throat swab, respiratory droplets and aerosols with scatter-plots and calculated the Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient
between any two types of samples. We imputed 0.3 log10 virus copies ml−1 for
undetectable values before transformation to log10 virus copies per sample. All analyses were conducted with R v.3.6.0 (ref. 22)
and the VGAM package v.1.1.1 (ref. 23).

Reporting Summary

Further information on research design is available in the Nature
Research Reporting Summary linked to this article.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the General Research Fund of the University Grants Committee (grant no. 765811), the Health and Medical Research Fund (grant no. 13120592)
and a commissioned grant of the Food and Health Bureau and the Theme-based Research Scheme (project no. T11-705/14-N) of the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong SAR Government. We acknowledge colleagues including R. O. P. Fung, A. K. W. Li, T. W. Y. Ng,
T. H. C. So, P. Wu and Y. Xie for technical support in preparing and conducting this study and enrolling participants; J. K. M. Chan, S. Y. Ho, Y. Z. Liu and A. Yu for laboratory support; S. Ferguson, W. K. Leung, J. Pantelic, J. Wei and M. Wolfson for technical
support in constructing and maintaining the G-II device; V. J. Fang, L. M. Ho and T. T. K. Lui for setting up the database; and C. W. Y. Cheung, L. F. K. Cheung, P. T. Y. Ching, A. C. H. Lai, D. W. Y. Lam, S. S. Y. Lo, A. S. K. Luk and other colleagues at
the Outpatient Center and Infection Control Team of Hong Kong Baptist Hospital for facilitating this study.

Author information

These authors jointly supervised this work: Donald K. Milton, Benjamin J. Cowling.

Affiliations

WHO Collaborating Centre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Control, School of Public Health, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

Nancy H. L. Leung

, Daniel K. W. Chu

, Eunice Y. C. Shiu

, Benien J. P. Hau

, Hui-Ling Yen

, Dennis K. M. Ip

, J. S. Malik Peiris

, Wing-Hong Seto

, Gabriel M. Leung

& Benjamin J. Cowling

Department of Microbiology, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

Kwok-Hung Chan

Department of Environmental Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA

James J. McDevitt

Department of Surgery, Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong, China

Benien J. P. Hau

Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

Yuguo Li

Department of Pathology, Hong Kong Baptist Hospital, Hong Kong, China

Wing-Hong Seto

Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health, School of Public Health, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA

Donald K. Milton

Contributions

All authors meet the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors criteria for authorship. The study protocol was drafted by N.H.L.L. and B.J.C. Data were collected
by N.H.L.L., E.Y.C.S. and B.J.P.H. Laboratory testing was performed by D.K.W.C. and K.-H.C. Statistical analyses were conducted by N.H.L.L. N.H.L.L. and B.J.C. wrote the first draft of the manuscript, and all authors provided critical review and revision of
the text and approved the final version.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Benjamin J. Cowling.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

B.J.C. consults for Roche and Sanofi Pasteur. The authors declare no other competing interests.

Additional information

Peer review information Alison Farrell was the primary editor on this article and managed its editorial process and peer review
in collaboration with the rest of the editorial team.

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional
affiliations.

Extended data

Extended Data Fig. 1

Participant enrolment, randomization of mask intervention and identification of respiratory virus infection.

Extended Data Fig. 2 Weekly number of respiratory virus infections identified by RT-PCR in symptomatic individuals who had provided
exhaled breath samples (respiratory droplets and aerosols) during the study period.

Blue, coronavirus; red, influenza virus; yellow, rhinovirus; green, other respiratory viruses including human metapneumovirus, parainfluenza virus, respiratory syncytial virus and adenovirus;
white, no respiratory virus infection identified.

Extended Data Fig. 3 Respiratory virus shedding in (a) nasal swab, (b) throat swab, (c) respiratory droplets and (d) aerosols
in symptomatic individuals with coronavirus NL63, coronavirus OC43, coronavirus HKU1, influenza A and influenza B virus infection.

For nasal swabs and throat swabs, all infected individuals identified by RT-PCR in any collected samples were included: coronavirus NL63 (n = 8), coronavirus OC43 (n = 5), coronavirus
HKU1 (n = 4), influenza A virus (n = 31) and influenza B virus (n = 14). For respiratory droplets and aerosols, only infected individuals who provided exhaled breath samples while not wearing a surgical face mask were included: coronavirus NL63 (n = 3), coronavirus
OC43 (n = 3), coronavirus HKU1 (n = 4), influenza A virus (n = 19) and influenza B virus (n = 6). The box plots indicate the median with the interquartile range (lower and upper hinge) and ± 1.5 × interquartile range from the first and third quartile (lower
and upper whisker). Dark blue, coronavirus NL63; light blue, coronavirus OC43; brown, coronavirus HKU1; red, influenza A virus; orange, influenza B virus.

Extended Data Fig. 4 Efficacy of surgical face masks in reducing respiratory virus shedding in respiratory droplets and aerosols
of symptomatic individuals with seasonal coronaviruses including (a) coronavirus NL63, (b) coronavirus OC43 and (c) coronavirus HKU1.

The figure shows the virus copies per sample collected in nasal swab (red), throat swab (blue), respiratory droplets collected for 30 min while not wearing (dark green) or wearing (light
green) a surgical face mask and aerosols collected for 30 min while not wearing (brown) or wearing (orange) a face mask, collected from individuals with acute respiratory symptoms who were positive for coronavirus NL63, coronavirus OC43 and coronavirus HKU1
as determined by RT-PCR in any samples. P values for mask intervention as predictor of log10virus copies per sample in an unadjusted univariate
Tobit regression model which allowed for censoring at the lower limit of detection of the RT-PCR assay are shown, with significant differences in bold. For nasal swabs and throat swabs, all infected individuals were included (coronavirus NL63, n = 8; coronavirus
OC43, n = 5; coronavirus HKU1, n = 4). For respiratory droplets and aerosols, numbers of infected individuals who provided exhaled breath samples while not wearing or wearing a surgical face mask, respectively were: coronavirus NL63 (n = 3 and 5), coronavirus
OC43 (n = 3 and 4), coronavirus HKU1 (n = 4 and 2). A subset of participants provided exhaled breath samples for both mask interventions (coronavirus NL63, n = 0; coronavirus OC43, n = 2; coronavirus HKU1, n = 2).

Extended Data Fig. 5 Efficacy of surgical face masks in reducing respiratory virus shedding in respiratory droplets and aerosols
of symptomatic individuals with seasonal influenza viruses including (a) influenza A and (b) influenza B virus.

The figure shows the virus copies per sample collected in nasal swab (red), throat swab (blue), respiratory droplets collected for 30 min while not wearing (dark green) or wearing (light
green) a surgical face mask and aerosols collected for 30 min while not wearing (brown) or wearing (orange) a face mask, collected from individuals with acute respiratory symptoms who were positive for influenza A and influenza B virus as determined by RT-PCR
in any samples. P values for mask intervention as predictor of log10 virus copies per sample in an unadjusted univariate Tobit regression
model which allowed for censoring at the lower limit of detection of the RT-PCR assay are shown, with significant differences in bold. For nasal swabs and throat swabs, all infected individuals were included (influenza A virus, n = 31; influenza B virus, n = 14).
For respiratory droplets and aerosols, numbers of infected individuals who provided exhaled breath samples while not wearing or wearing a surgical face mask, respectively were: influenza A virus (n = 19 and 19), influenza B virus (n = 6 and 10). A subset of
participants provided exhaled breath samples for both mask interventions (influenza A virus, n = 7; influenza B virus, n = 2).

Extended Data Fig. 6 Correlation of coronavirus viral shedding between different samples (nasal swab, throat swab, respiratory
droplets and aerosols) in symptomatic individuals with seasonal coronavirus infection.

For nasal swabs and throat swabs, all infected individuals were included (n = 17). For respiratory droplets and aerosols, only infected individuals who provided exhaled breath samples
while not wearing a surgical face mask were included (n = 10). r, the Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient.

Extended Data Fig. 7 Correlation of influenza viral shedding between different samples (nasal swab, throat swab, respiratory droplets
and aerosols) in symptomatic individuals with seasonal influenza infection.

For nasal swabs and throat swabs, all infected individuals were included (n = 43). For respiratory droplets and aerosols, only infected individuals who provided exhaled breath samples
while not wearing a surgical face mask were included (n = 23). r, the Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient.

Extended Data Fig. 8 Correlation of rhinovirus viral shedding between different samples (nasal swab, throat swab, respiratory
droplets and aerosols) in symptomatic individuals with rhinovirus infection.

For nasal swabs and throat swabs, all infected individuals were included (n = 54). For respiratory droplets and aerosols, only infected individuals who provided exhaled breath samples
while not wearing a surgical face mask were included (n = 36). r, the Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient.

Extended Data Fig. 9 Respiratory virus shedding in respiratory droplets and aerosols stratified by days from symptom onset for
(a) coronavirus, (b) influenza virus or (c) rhinovirus.

The figures shows the virus copies per sample collected in nasal swab (red), throat swab (blue), respiratory droplets (dark green) and aerosols (brown) collected for 30 min while not wearing
a surgical face mask, stratified by the number of days from symptom onset on which the respiratory droplets and aerosols were collected. For nasal swabs and throat swabs, all infected individuals were included (coronavirus, n = 17; influenza virus, n = 43;
rhinovirus, n = 54). For respiratory droplets and aerosols, numbers of infected individuals who provided exhaled breath samples while not wearing or wearing a surgical face mask, respectively were: coronavirus (n = 10 and 11), influenza virus (n = 23 and 28),
rhinovirus (n = 36 and 32). A subset of participants provided exhaled breath samples for both mask interventions (coronavirus, n = 4; influenza virus, n = 8; rhinovirus, n = 14). The box plots indicate the median with the interquartile range (lower and upper
hinge) and ± 1.5 × interquartile range from the first and third quartile (lower and upper whisker).

Supplementary information

About this article

Cite this article

Leung, N.H.L., Chu, D.K.W., Shiu, E.Y.C. et al. Respiratory virus shedding in exhaled breath and efficacy of face masks. Nat Med(2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-020-0843-2

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Received02 March 2020

Accepted20 March 2020

Published03 April 2020

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-020-0843-2

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Kind regards,

Sebastian

Sebastian Molineus

Regional Director for the South Caucasus

Europe and Central Asia, The World Bank

T: +995 (32) 291 30 96

M:+995 (577) 78 78 21

M: +1 (202) 492 3914

www.worldbank.org/en/region/eca

www.linkedin.com/in/molineus

Follow me on Twitter @SMolineus

Sent from my iPhone

On Apr 3, 2020, at 19:33, Sebastian-A Molineus wrote:

 Dear colleagues -

Please find below and attached an update on social protection measures from across the world.

FYI, the number of countries with measures in place is now triple-digit; more cash transfers than ever; COVID-related social assistance is benefiting almost 600 million people;
lots of action in social insurance (mostly paid sick leave) as well as labor markets (largely wage subsidies).

Here are stylized facts to help synthesize current global trends:

Fact #1. As of today, a total of 106 countries have introduced or adapted social protection and jobs programs in response to COVID-19. This is an 26% increase since last week
(when countries were 84), while the number of programs grew by almost 50%, i.e., from 283 to 418. Among classes of interventions, social assistance (non-contributory transfers) keeps being the most widely used (including a total of 241 programs), followed
by actions in social insurance (116) and supply-side labor market interventions (61).

Fact #2. Within social assistance, cash transfer programs are clearly the most widely used intervention by governments: these include 124 programs in 71 countries, with 54
new initiatives introduced specifically as COVID-19 response in 36 countries. Those 124 programs would increase to 149 if social pensions, public works, childcare support and one-off universal basic income (or helicopter money) are considered. Such overall
cash-based portfolio represents over one-third of total social protection programs (35.6%) (see pie below) and 61.8% of social assistance schemes.

Fact #3. More data points on coverage levels are also starting to emerge, especially in social assistance. A preliminary estimate of the number of beneficiaries specifically
supported via COVID-related introductions, expansions, and adaptations of programs is 594 million. Those beneficiaries include both individuals (for programs like public works) and households (e.g., for conditional cash transfers), pending on how they are
reported. On one hand, such estimate is conservative given that not all programs report coverage (especially planned schemes); on the other hand, the estimate also includes schemes for which programs envisioned administrative adaptations, such as providing
the same level of benefits but paid in a more user-friendly way. Clearly, global coverage levels are largely driven by India, but sizable levels can be observed in several countries, especially in Asia.

Fact #4. In terms of social insurance, paid sick leave is the most frequently-adopted measure, including in countries like Algeria, El Salvador, Finland and Lebanon. Unemployment
benefits are also widely used, including for example in Romania, Russia, and South Africa. Deferring or subsidizing social contributions are observed in Montenegro, Germany and the Netherlands among others.

Fact #5. Labor market interventions are another key way in which governments are providing support to formal and informal sector workers (i.e., we don’t include demand-side
actions on the labor markets). Wage subsidies account for 59% of the global labor market portfolio, with programs being implemented in Jamaica, Kosovo, Malaysia and Thailand. Activation measures (worker trainings) are also being considered inter alia in Bosnia
and Herzegovina, China and Romania.

Fact #6. Compared to last week, programs are less unevenly distributed across regions and country income groups. Importantly, measures are being introduced in low-income countries,
although only on social assistance and insurance. In those contexts, social assistance measures mostly include administrative adaptations, in-kind transfers, school feeding, and utility waivers. As such, there appears to be very limited cash transfer program
expanded or introduced (Tajikistan is one example).

Please find attached additional information. I hope you are able to enjoy a bit of the weekend with your families.

Best regards,

Sebastian

Sebastian Molineus

Regional Director for the South Caucasus

Europe and Central Asia, The World Bank

T: +995 (32) 291 30 96

M:+995 (577) 78 78 21

M: +1 (202) 492 3914

www.worldbank.org/en/region/eca

www.linkedin.com/in/molineus

Follow me on Twitter @SMolineus

Sent from my iPad

On Apr 3, 2020, at 17:07, Sebastian-A Molineus wrote:

Dear all – I attach for information the Korea case study shared with us by the government of Korea, in case of interest.

Kind regards,

Sebastian

Sebastian Molineus

Regional Director for the South Caucasus

Europe
and Central Asia

T
+995 (32) 291 6238

M
+995 (577) 78 7821

M
+1 (202) 492-3914

E
[email-masked]

W
www.worldbank.org/en/region/eca

@smolineus

www.linkedin.com/in/molineus/

From: Sebastian-A Molineus

Sent: Friday, March 27, 2020 7:24 PM

To: [email-masked]; [email-masked]

Cc: [email-masked]; [email-masked]; Evgenij Najdov ; Lire Ersado ; Abdulaziz Faghi ; Jan Van Bilsen

Subject: RE: Our standing WB offer to support the government of Georgia during the COVID-19 crisis

Dear Ministers, Dear Ekaterine and Ivane –

Please find attached an updated World Bank paper on Social Protection and Jobs Responses to COVID-19: A Real-Time Review of Country Measures.  I trust you will find this paper useful as you design your social protection policy measures
along with our teams within the framework of the upcoming Fast Track COVID-19 Response Facility that your government has requested.

As usual, we stand ready to support and answer any questions you may have.

Kind regards,

Sebastian

Sebastian Molineus

Regional Director for the South Caucasus

Europe
and Central Asia

T
+995 (32) 291 6238

M
+995 (577) 78 7821

M
+1 (202) 492-3914

E
[email-masked]

W
www.worldbank.org/en/region/eca

@smolineus

www.linkedin.com/in/molineus/

From: Sebastian-A Molineus

Sent: Thursday, March 26, 2020 7:12 PM

To: [email-masked];
[email-masked];
[email-masked]; [email-masked]

Cc: [email-masked];
[email-masked];
[email-masked]; [email-masked]; Evgenij Najdov <[email-masked]>; Lire Ersado <[email-masked]>; Abdulaziz Faghi
<[email-masked]>; Jan Van Bilsen <[email-masked]>

Subject: RE: Our standing WB offer to support the government of Georgia during the COVID-19 crisis

Dear colleagues –

Please find attached a note on ‘Managing the Employment Impacts of the COVID-19 Crisis’, produced by the World Bank Jobs Group. It reviews a variety of available policy options in a succinct and practical manner, and I hope you find it
useful and timely.

As always, please let me know if you have any questions or would like for us to organize a follow-up discussion with our World Bank experts.

Thank you and kind regards,

Sebastian

Sebastian Molineus

Regional Director for the South Caucasus

Europe
and Central Asia

T
+995 (32) 291 6238

M
+995 (577) 78 7821

M
+1 (202) 492-3914

E
[email-masked]

W
www.worldbank.org/en/region/eca

@smolineus

www.linkedin.com/in/molineus/

From: Sebastian-A Molineus

Sent: Tuesday, March 24, 2020 6:27 PM

To: [email-masked];
[email-masked];
[email-masked]; [email-masked]

Cc: [email-masked];
[email-masked];
[email-masked]; Evgenij Najdov <[email-masked]>; Lire Ersado <[email-masked]>; Abdulaziz Faghi <[email-masked]>;
Jan Van Bilsen <[email-masked]>;
[email-masked]

Subject: RE: Our standing WB offer to support the government of Georgia during the COVID-19 crisis

Dear colleagues –

FYI, I am attaching two scientific articles from Harvard University and ISI/ GISC on the effectiveness of social distancing strategies, as well as two World Bank papers, the first of which looks at the lessons-learned from Italy’s COVID-19
response and the second reviewing Global Social Protection Responses to COVID-19, which I know you are contemplating as we speak.  I have summarized key take-aways below:

https://dash.harvard.edu/handle/1/42638988: The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is straining healthcare resources worldwide, prompting social distancing measures to reduce transmission intensity. The amount
of social distancing needed to curb the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in the context of seasonally varying transmission remains unclear. Using a mathematical model, we assessed that one-time interventions will be insufficient to maintain COVID-19 prevalence within the
critical care capacity of the United States. Seasonal variation in transmission will facilitate epidemic control during the summer months but could lead to an intense resurgence in the autumn. Intermittent distancing measures can maintain control of the epidemic,
but without other interventions, these measures may be necessary into 2022. Increasing critical care capacity could reduce the duration of the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic while ensuring that critically ill patients receive appropriate care.

https://covid-19-sds.github.io/assets/pdfs/Preliminary_Report_Effectiveness_of_social_distance_strategies_COVID-19.pdf:
Key findings 1. School closures do not have a major impact on controlling the epidemic, despite closing them, infections keep occurring within the households and the community layers. 2. Passive social distance strategies are not enough to contain the epidemic,
indicating that active strategies need to be established. For instance, large scale testing, remote symptoms monitoring, isolation and contact tracing. 3. School closures and self-distancing at 90% of adoption is a feasible strategy for minimizing the effects
of the epidemic, but only if they are applied for a long period of time. 4. A full confinement is not feasible and will not solve the problem, without active measures in place after the confinement, since there would be a new outbreak. 5. If high resolution
mobility data is available, our data-driven approach with real world data can be easily replicated for new cities or countries to measure the impact of social distance strategies and the epidemic.

Early lessons-learned from Italy: In response to previous epidemics of SARS and MERS, China, Singapore, and South Korea overhauled their emergency systems and strengthened public health and disease surveillance response systems, which enabled a swift
response to the COVID-19 pandemics. Different countries worldwide have different levels of preparedness and have adopted different measures to combat COVID-19 pandemic, offering vital insight into the response. Lack of swift disease detection and containment
measures can lead to overwhelmed health systems swiftly, and exceeding healthcare capacity can further exacerbate the community spread of SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19.  Timely disease control measures need to be accompanied with surge capacity to curb the exponential
spread of COVID-19. The evidence suggests that travel restrictions only work if coupled with rapid testing, physical distancing, isolation, infection prevention and Control in HCWs etc. to break the chain of transmission.  In a globalized world where epidemics
and pandemics are increasingly common, pandemic surge planning using the 4 S framework (Space, Stuff, Staff, and System) can enable bolstered surge response. The proposed recommendations contain short, medium, and long-term measures to operationalize surge
response to COVID-19 in Italy; including short-term measures to scale up surge response using the 4 S framework; medium and long-term measures of gap analysis for legislative and institutional reforms, and health system strengthening respectively.

A Global Review of Social Protection Responses to COVID-19: As of March 20, 2020, a total of 45 countries have introduced, adapted or expanded social protection programs in response to
COVID-19. The most widely used measures include: cash transfers (30 programs), followed by wage subsidies (11), subsidized sick leave (10), and various forms of subsidized social security contributions and unemployment insurance.  A total of 13 new cash transfer
programs have been introduced, like for example in Bolivia, India, Iran and Peru.  A universal, one-off cash payment to all citizens will occur in Hong-Kong and Singapore.  New in-kind schemes have also been launched, such as food vouchers in Taiwan and Seattle
in the United States. Countries are adapting existing social assistance programs in various ways, by for instance: (i) anticipating payments of future cash transfer programs (Colombia and Indonesia); (ii) ensuring additional payments, often on a one-off basis
(e.g., Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Turkey); (iii) providing more generous benefit levels (e.g., China); (iv) increasing the coverage of existing cash schemes (e.g., Brazil) and public works (Uzbekistan); (v) enhancing agility by suspending conditionalities
in the UK and Italy; and (vi) providing innovative design solutions, such as school feeding programs delivering food directly to children’s homes or nearby centers (Jamaica and India’s Kerala state) or adapting their financing (Japan).  Income support in the
form of childcare vouchers or allowances were provided in Italy, Poland and South Korea.  Other social assistance programs include support for homeless populations as planned in Spain; utility subsidies waiving fees for basic services are present in El Salvador;
and wavers for loans and other financial obligations (e.g., Bolivia).  Many countries provide cash benefits to crisis-affected self-employed workers (e.g., Ireland, Portugal, New Zealand) and those in the informal sector (India). Some countries (e.g., Netherland)
are reducing work time among the wage employed, combined with paid sick leave. Sweden is reducing the administrative time required for sick-leave payments, while Switzerland is doing so for the unemployment insurance process.  Delivery innovations are also
emerging in Jordan (new cash program using same registration form of existing schemes), Japan (uploading transfers on phones), and Romania (enhanced electronic processes for benefits).

I hope you find these useful.

Kind regards,

Sebastian

Sebastian Molineus

Regional Director for the South Caucasus

Europe
and Central Asia

T
+995 (32) 291 6238

M
+995 (577) 78 7821

M
+1 (202) 492-3914

E
[email-masked]

W
www.worldbank.org/en/region/eca

@smolineus

www.linkedin.com/in/molineus/

From: Sebastian-A Molineus

Sent: Sunday, March 22, 2020 12:31 PM

To: [email-masked];
[email-masked];
[email-masked]

Cc: [email-masked];
[email-masked];
[email-masked]; Evgenij Najdov <[email-masked]>; Lire Ersado <[email-masked]>; Abdulaziz Faghi <[email-masked]>;
Jan Van Bilsen <[email-masked]>

Subject: RE: Our standing WB offer to support the government of Georgia during the COVID-19 crisis

Dear Ministers and Governor, Dear Natia, Ivane, and Koba -

please find attached a global compendium of financial sector policy measures relevant to combatting the economic fall-out from COVID-19.  The document remains a work in progress and is in draft form, but given the speed at which everything
is evolving I’d rather share this document with you sooner than later.  I will of course continue to share relevant updates with you.  I also share with you a set of broader policy measures undertaken by the EU member countries, again for info.

COVID-19 outbreak: Classification of Policy Measures Related to the Financial Sector

Draft March 18, 2020

Monetary and liquidity measures

Easing of policy rates

Liquidity support (e.g., OMO/repo, standing facilities, FX, minimum reserve requirements, collateral)

Credit easing (e.g. purchases of corporate, government, MBS paper; outright support to SMEs)

Easing Emergency Liquidity Assistance (e.g., loosening of collateral criteria)

Financial institution measures

Prudential and integrity

Easing/draw down of capital buffers (e.g., counter-cyclical, capital conservation)

Easing limits on large exposures

Easing of liquidity requirements (in foreign and local currency)

Forbearance of NPL classification, past due classification

Suspension of accounting standards (e.g. IFRS 9) or provisioning rules

Lower certain risks weights (e.g., loans with government guarantees)

Easing of macro-prudential measures (e.g., LTVs, DTIs)

Restrictions on dividend payments

Limit foreign exposures of banks and non-bank financial institutions

Ensure compliance of critical conduct and integrity rules to mitigate market abuse

Support for borrowers in affected sectors (e.g., SMEs, tourism, exporters)

Encourage private institutions to provide short-term cash support, waive fees and penalties, etc.

Moratorium on repayments, incl. mortgages (e.g., missed payments added to principal)

Support targeted restructuring of loans

State (partial) guarantees on loans

State subsidies on borrowers’ repayments

State loans to affected companies, sectors (e.g., through state banks or C)

Crisis management

State guarantees on bank liabilities (e.g., deposit guarantees to avert runs)

Freeze on deposit withdrawals

Freeze on withdrawal of open-ended funds

Capital injections, bailouts, bail-ins, and nationalization

Additional (backstop) funding to deposit guarantee schemes

Other measures

Intensification of industry consultation, monitoring of large companies, and key markets

Review business continuity and disaster recovery plans

Review of supervisory reporting requirements and methods as staff cannot access systems

Closing of bank branches and ATMs to prevent COVID-19 spread

Stimulate use of digital payments to prevent COVID-19 spread

Review regulations (KYC) to allow for remote interactions (e.g. refinancing mortgages, SME loans)

Financial markets measures

Market support

FX market interventions by Central Bank

FX swap lines with other Central Banks

Outright asset purchases (e.g., securities of affected companies, sectors)

Market intervention

Halting of trading, bans on (naked) short selling

Temporary restrictions on cross-border capital (out)flows

Public Debt Management measures

Establish basis for decision-making and developing communications strategy

Identify funding from other sources to reduce pressure on traditional wholesale market borrowing

Adapt the funding program to shifts in the demand for government paper

Ensure minimal functionality in the primary and secondary markets

Kind regards,

Sebastian

Sebastian Molineus

Regional Director for the South Caucasus

<20200321_Korea_Response.pdf>