Tracking the Coronavirus Pandemic

Get daily updates on the epidemic and learn how it is affecting countries around the world.

On today’s podcast: The ultra-Orthodox challenge to Israel’s coronavirus response.

Which politicians and senior officials have the coronavirus?

After years of failed attempts at talks and cease-fires, COVID-19 may be enough to push the Saudis, Houthis, and Yemeni government to the negotiating table.

With India on lockdown, hundreds of thousands of people are cleaning up trash, medical waste, and even sewage without any protective equipment.

Despite being shut out of WHO, Taiwan has largely succeeded in containing the coronavirus. Even as it faces a second wave of infections, it is helping other countries—and bolstering its soft power in the process.

Boris Johnson’s hospitalization has sparked fears of instability, but the U.K. government has functioned smoothly in the absence of prime ministers in the past and continues to do so today.

In the absence of U.S. leadership, the U.N. is struggling to carve out a role in the face of what may be the greatest threat since its founding.

Even if the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Russia make a historic show of cooperation, any respite for the oil industry will be short-lived.

Public hearings and classified briefings are another political casualty in the age of contagion.

Beijing is using the coronavirus pandemic to expand its influence into the EU’s backyard.

As Qatar races to complete construction projects ahead of the 2022 World Cup, a small army of workers from South Asia are on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic.

Ankara’s finances were weak before the pandemic—but the combination of external debt, a public health crisis, and a president who chooses to protect his reputation rather than his people could spell disaster.

The world’s major faiths face a test, and some religious leaders are failing by endangering human lives in the name of adhering to tradition—and ushering in a new age of secularism in the process.

Nations have always mobilized young people when facing existential crises like war. The case for national service has never been clearer.

The insatiable appetite for disaster information is psychologically understandable—and politically dangerous.

The affair surrounding the COVID-19 outbreak on the USS Theodore Roosevelt lays bare the dysfunction of civilian-military relations under Trump.

Western democracies may lose the coronavirus propaganda war, but China certainly won’t win it.

The region’s economic and political systems were already under strain. In 2020, the virus may push them to a breaking point.

The country’s medical infrastructure is notoriously underfunded. Doctors say it will buckle under the coronavirus.

Humanitarian crises including Hurricane Katrina and the Ebola outbreak show that graft can dilute the best donor intentions. More vigilance is necessary.

Against a backdrop of tariffs, 5G, and weakening diplomacy, COVID-19 might be a rare chance for the two countries to come together—if they can listen to their better angels.

Why now is the time for global cyber-norms to protect health infrastructure.

Our author braves closing borders and airport chaos to catch one of the few planes still flying.

Intelligence agencies will play a growing role in keeping their countries safe during the pandemic—by any means necessary.

As we saw during the last financial crisis, the “smart” players aren’t always so smart. One thing we know: The world economy will never be the same.

The world was already breaking apart. The coronavirus pandemic accelerates the trend.

Russia and China are stepping in while the United States and Europe fumble.

The coronavirus pandemic has turned a conscious uncoupling into a messy breakup.

The evangelical musician died of COVID-19 after calling it fake news. But he was a victim of forces much larger than him.

The U.S. secretary of state is late to finding his voice on the pandemic, as the State Department scrambles to repatriate tens of thousands of American citizens stranded abroad.

The coronavirus arrived late to the continent, but the early responses could backfire.

Cultural tropes don’t explain South Korea’s success against COVID-19. Competent leadership does.

The G-20 helped beat Ebola. Why can’t it do the same for the coronavirus?

Lessons from Taiwan, Canada, South Korea, Georgia, and Iceland show that the coronavirus can be stopped.

The pandemic hit Iran harder than almost anywhere—but may have strengthened the regime’s hard-liners.

Beijing is pushing to become a public health superpower—and quickly found a willing international partner.

Many island nations rely on foreign tourists, but the world’s major economies will also see drastic declines in spending as the coronavirus shuts down travel.

With the coronavirus pandemic, the United States faces the greatest global challenge to its sanctions policy since the 1990s.

Along with China, the Kremlin is looking to gain a geopolitical edge on the West by rushing medical supplies to countries hit hard by the coronavirus.

Moscow closed the border and banned Chinese citizens in an attempt to stop the pandemic. Now, Beijing has reached out a hand by sending medical aid to Russia.

As some democracies try to lesson the pandemic’s effect on prison populations, dictatorships around the world are doing the opposite.

The militant group seeks to gain an edge on other parties in responding in Lebanon.

The remote mountain country has only five confirmed coronavirus cases.

The coronavirus pandemic might not disrupt politics in wealthy Western democracies, but it is likely to unleash political instability—and even regime change—in developing countries already suffering from an economic crisis.

Exploiting Iran's coronavirus crisis to demand an end to sanctions is fundamentally dishonest—and panders to a brutal regime.

While the world is shut down, history hasn’t stopped. Authoritarians are seizing the opportunity.

The populist Five Star Movement has become China’s chief enabler as Beijing spreads disinformation about the origins of the coronavirus while sending aid shipments to EU countries where it seeks influence.

Trump botched the coronavirus response. The United States cannot make the same mistake again.

China and Russia are sending medical aid to Italy and other coronavirus-stricken countries, but their motives aren’t so altruistic.

Southern countries push for a eurobond while the wealthy North says “nein.”

With 2,500 asylum-seekers packed in tightly and no coronavirus tests available, doctors and volunteers are doubtful that education will be enough to prevent the spread of the virus.

India’s prime minister is pushing for a regional response while facing a growing crisis at home.

Public health shouldn’t mean surrendering privacy to Silicon Valley.

Don’t mistake different messages for division within the party.

The Russian leader still wants to make himself president for life. But COVID-19 is fomenting new distrust in the state he built.

The Palestinian health care system has been held back by military occupation and is unprepared for the coronavirus onslaught. Israel must act swiftly.

The pandemic offers dictators—and democracies alike—an opportunity for abuse.

Why is Iran the flaming epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in the Middle East? One of the primary suspects is Mahan Air.

For a daily laborer in Mumbai, staying home means “my children and my wife will die.”

For Indian Muslims forced from their homes by mob violence, not even displaced persons camps can protect them now.

The pandemic is starting to topple one of the pillars of the globalization era.

Hun Sen needs somebody to blame for the impending disaster.

Lockdowns are leaving domestic violence victims worldwide trapped with abusers.

Under the right conditions, social frustration can herald the dawn of new political solidarity.

Extreme measures to fight the coronavirus have raised activists’ hopes for similarly drastic action on global warming. Here’s why they’re wrong.

They want waivers to speed medical supplies and humanitarian aid to Iran and other sanctioned nations hit hard by the pandemic.

The cancellation is another blow to a battered economy as virus numbers creep up.

A major player in the Ebola outbreak, the council has turned into the site of a U.S.-China showdown over the coronavirus.

Refugees are particularly vulnerable to a pandemic—which is why their needs must be taken into account.

Germans used to be happy they were far away from China, but as COVID-19 ravages Europe, they no longer feel safely removed.  

Millions of people stuck at home will turn to social media, where disinformation is rife. Radical Islamists and far-right groups are exploiting widespread confusion and fear to spread hate.

State Department struggles to bring thousands of stranded Americans home as air travel shuts down from the global coronavirus pandemic.

The pandemic will soon magnify the threats festering in the Middle East’s longest-running war.

Slashing aid, abandoning the peace process, or going it alone will imperil U.S. interests.

Health concerns deal another blow to the U.S. foreign service, which is already overstretched following a 2017 hiring freeze.

The first coronavirus cases in the Gaza Strip portend a calamity.

As the pandemic reaches the continent, countries from Morocco to Malawi are facing a health crisis and an economic shock.

The country’s newest leaders should have jumped into action immediately. Instead, they wasted precious weeks jockeying over cabinet positions.

When societies shift their economies to a war footing, it doesn’t just help them survive a crisis—it alters them forever.

Beijing is using the pandemic to drive wedges between members of the European Union, and to advance its propaganda war against the United States.

Especially in times like these, it's OK to feel for everyone whose milestone events have been canceled or postponed.

China may be getting something close to a V-shaped bounceback from the coronavirus. The question is whether it can last—and whether the rest of the world can achieve anything like it.

It’s more glaring than Pearl Harbor and 9/11—and it’s all the fault of Donald Trump’s leadership.

Thousands have crossed over the border from badly afflicted Iran, and authorities in the neighboring province of Herat say they’re not close to ready.

A bungled response in Western countries is no reason to take the heat off China. If China had a different government, the world could have been spared this terrible pandemic.

A Supreme Court decision threatens Netanyahu’s grip on power and augurs a constitutional crisis.

The Scandinavian country believes its distinctive high-trust culture will protect it from needing to shut down for the pandemic.

If you're locked inside, thank the British Empire for the laws that make it possible.

Despite market rebound, economists say only a major suspension of mortgage and debt contracts and reimbursement of pay may stave off a coronavirus depression.

Secretary-General Guterres says it’s time for “solidarity not exclusion.”

Clinical evidence suggests the BCG vaccine may provide vital protection against the coronavirus.

The government learned early on about the outbreak—but, from a combination of cynicism and ideology, decided not to do anything about it.

Beijing’s propaganda blitz seeks to obscure the origins of the coronavirus.

Washington’s reputation for expertise has been one of the greatest sources of its power. The coronavirus pandemic may end it for good.

Economists say the sudden slowdown in economic activity from the coronavirus has no precedent in U.S. history.

Countries such as South Korea that test thousands of people per day have slowed the outbreak. Other nations must adopt Seoul’s model before it’s too late.

The United States needs a generous policy—and a different leader—to counter Beijing.

U.N. and relief agencies warn the coronavirus pandemic could leave an even bigger path of destruction in the world’s most vulnerable and conflict-riven countries.

The coronavirus crisis is exposing the West’s weaknesses—and adversaries of the U.S. and EU are paying close attention so they can exploit vulnerabilities in a future conflict.

What we’re reading, watching, playing, and listening to as we muddle through social distancing.

The pandemic will change the world forever. We asked 12 leading global thinkers for their predictions.

America’s politicians are older than ever—and dangerously vulnerable to the coronavirus as a result.