A general view of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. (REUTERS/Tami Chappell/File Photo)
PHILIPSBURG--St. Maarten, the Bahamas and Morocco are now among the highest-risk destinations for travellers, according to the United States (US) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s CDC regularly revised travel advisories list, CNN reported on its website.
The CDC recommends that persons should avoid traveling to locations designated with the “Level four: COVID-19 Very High” notice. Anyone who must travel should be fully vaccinated first, the agency advises.
Six destinations moved to the level four list on August 23 are Bahamas, Haiti, Kosovo, Lebanon, Morocco and St. Maarten.
The CDC’s evolving list of travel notices ranges from level one (“low”) to level four (“very high”).
Destinations that fall into the “COVID-19 Very High” level four category have had more than 500 cases per 100,000 residents in the past 28 days, according to CDC criteria.
The level three category applies to destinations that have had between 100 and 500 cases per 100,000 residents in the past 28 days.
All six destinations newly added to level four were previously ranked at “Level three: COVID-19 High.”
New ‘Level three’ destinations
Ten other destinations moved to the “Level three: COVID-19 High” category on Monday. Albania, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Brunei and Liechtenstein moved up from level one. Bulgaria and Serbia relocated from level two. Greenland and Guernsey changed from “level unknown.” And Paraguay moved down from level four.
CDC guidance for destinations on level three urges unvaccinated travellers to avoid nonessential travel to those locations.
In its broader travel guidance, the CDC has recommended avoiding all international travel until you are fully vaccinated.
“Fully vaccinated travellers are less likely to get and spread COVID-19. However, international travel poses additional risks, and even fully vaccinated travellers might be at increased risk for getting and possibly spreading some COVID-19 variants,” the agency said.
Persons can view the CDC’s risk level of any destination on its travel recommendations page.
