CDC Drops All Countries from ‘Do Not Travel’ Covid-19 List
However, 120 countries still get the “High Risk” designation!
In the past few days, travel has gotten a lot easier and more comfortable for more Americans.
First, a federal judge just axed the transportation mask mandate. Now, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) removed all countries from its highest risk level as it overhauled the system that assesses on covid risks abroad.
The CDC ranks international destinations based on Covid-19 risks travelers might face, and under its new system, it classifies zero destinations as Level Four, or “do not travel.”
The new guidance doesn’t affect the federal order requiring entrants to the U.S. have a negative Covid test result before entry. The U.S. still requires both vaccinated and unvaccinated travelers to have a negative test taken within one day before traveling back to the country by plane or to provide documentation of recovery. Top airline executives have asked for the requirement to be dropped.
“I don’t have any insights of any changes coming forth anytime soon, but we are always looking at that,” said Cindy Friedman, chief of the CDC’s Travelers’ Health Branch, on the testing requirements.
This new rule removed the “Do Not Travel” designation from 90 countries.
During the pandemic, the CDC has updated weekly its list of countries travelers should avoid because of the coronavirus, with its “Level 4” warning indicating very high levels of the coronavirus and instructing all travelers to avoid the area.
Before this last update, about 90 countries were in the Level 4 category.
The State Department also shares its own advisories. Those include threats such as terrorism and natural disasters, while factoring in CDC recommendations.
Interestingly, a number of European countries and popular travel destinations are “Level 3” designation for “high risk” destinations.
In the new system, the Level 3 “high” risk category applies to destinations that have had more than 100 cases per 100,000 residents in the past 28 days.Among the countries in Level 3 is France, which was the most visited country in the world in 2019 before the pandemic, according to the UN’s World Tourism Organization.But other stalwarts of the European travel scene are in the “high” risk category, too. On April 18, they included:• Germany
• Greece
• Ireland
• Italy
• Portugal
• Spain
• United KingdomIt’s not just European favorites that find themselves on this rebooted list. Other popular travel spots around the world also at Level 3 include:• Brazil
• Canada
• Egypt
• Malaysia
• Mexico
• South Korea
• ThailandIn all, there were just over 120 destinations at Level 3 late Monday afternoon.
It’s almost as if the Biden administration’s CDC wants to keep tourist dollars in this country for some reason.
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Comments
Nothing about covid had anything to do with covid.
All politics all the time.
What a screwed up planet we have now.
CDC: Olley, Olley Oxenfree… But You Didn’t Say “May I”!
This the same CDC who has no trouble letting title 42 expire but wants masks on public transportation again.