The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has placed Russia and three other nations in its highest-risk travel category.
Countries downgraded to this level have reported more than 500 COVID-19 infections per 100,000 population in the last 28 days.
Belgium, Slovakia, and Burkina Faso were the three other destinations degraded to level 4 on Monday.
As covered by TravelingLifeStyle, half of Belgium, and the half of Slovakia were also put back on in the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC)’s “dark-red” list.
According to the U.S. agency, all travel to these areas should be avoided but if this is not possible, tourists should get completely vaccinated before departure.
Russia, the most affected country from the list, has added more than 40,251 new cases in the last 24 hours, a new record high for the country during the course of the pandemic. Not to mention that 1,163 people lost their lives to the virus only on Friday.
Although Russia had a hands-off strategy for much of the pandemic, the Kremlin has recently enforced tight restrictions in an effort to control the spread of the virus.
For instance, between Oct. 30 and Nov. 7, all workers must stay at home to help reduce the case count and preserve the lives of Russian residents.
During the onsets of the pandemic, the very incredibly long distances between communities across Russia’s 6.6 million square miles (17 million square kilometers) gave Russians a false impression of safety.
Back then, the government downplayed the virus and its consequences, which could be one of the reasons why Russians are so hesitant to get vaccinated.
Thus far, only 33 percent of Russians have been fully vaccinated, according to Johns Hopkins University’s COVID-19 tracker.
But now, the president has been committed to persuading Russians about the benefits of the vaccine.
“There are only two ways to get over this period — to get sick or to receive a vaccine,” the President said last month. “It’s better to get the vaccine, why wait for the illness and its grave consequences?” he said.
Please be responsible and take the necessary measures to protect yourself, your health, and your close ones.”