8 more nations and territories around the world have been added to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s list of “very high” risk travel destinations.
Spain, Finland, Monaco, San Marino in the EU, as well as other four nations and territories: Gibraltar, Lebanon in the Middle East, Chad in Central Africa, and Bonaire in the Caribbean.
Last week, World Health Organization announced concerns about Omicron and its spread around 89 countries around the world.
As of the beginning of this week, Omicron dominates in many countries around the world and causes huge spikes in new Covid infections.
The CDC —somehow— had set off the alarms in the last few weeks when Gibraltar, Monaco and San Marino wouldn’t show up in the list of safe or risk destinations due to a paucity of data from those territories.
After catching up on backlogs, these territories were reclassified as Level 4 on Monday.
Spain, the second hottest destination in the world, as well as Finland and Lebanon have all been upgraded from Level 3, which is deemed “high risk.”
The designation of Spain as an unsafe destination serves as a reminder that no one is safe until everyone is safe.
Less than 4 weeks ago, Spain prided itself on having nearly 80% of its population fully vaccinated and hospital COVID wings nearly empty.
But, on December 17, Spain’s COVID-19 infection rate topped 500 cases per 100,000 people, putting the country at “very high risk.”
With the 14-day incidence now at 609 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez will meet with regional premiers tomorrow to “evaluate new measures that can be put into place over the coming weeks.”
Catalonia, home to one of Spain’s most visited cities, Barcelona, has already revealed that it will campaign for a new curfew, the closing of the nightlife sector, and a 10-person limit on social gatherings.
For its part, the Finnish National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) has advised people to use face masks in all public places and on public transportation across the country.
It has also reimposed restrictions on travelers from the United Kingdom. They will be requested to submit a PCR or antigen test taken 48 hours before arriving in Finland beginning December 21.
The testing measures will be in force until January 16, according to the UK Foreign Office.