The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention added 12 more countries under the Level 4 category which are countries with high COVID risk on January 31. There are now nearly 130 countries and territories under Level 4 where travel is not advised because of the high rates of coronavirus infections. Meanwhile, Bhutan which was under Level 1 before has now been placed under Level 3 which is a high-risk category.
Among the 12 new countries added to the Level 4-Do Not Travel list are Mexico, Brazil, Singapore, Ecuador, Kosovo, Philippines and Paraguay. Since mid-December, the US government has added more than 60 countries and territories to its list of places to avoid citing the Omicron coronavirus variant.
The CDC also raised travel warnings against 11 countries and territories added to Level 3 urging unvaccinated Americans to avoid non-essential travel. They are Bhutan, Brunei, Comoros, French Polynesia, the Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Honduras, Liberia, Nepal and Oman. Countries reporting between 100 and 500 cases per 100,000 residents in the past 28 days are placed on this list. The high-risk category now has about 53 countries and territories.
Bhutan, Guinea, The Gambia and Oman moved up two risk levels from Level 1 which includes those with low risks.
Destinations with the Level 2-Moderate designation are those that have seen 50 to 99 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents in the past 28 days. And for Level 1-Low, a destination must have fewer than 50 new cases per 100,000 residents over the past 28 days.
The CDC has listed seven countries at Level 2- Moderate and nine countries under Level 1- Low. Meanwhile, 40 other destinations are listed as unknown.
Samten Dolkar
