The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) added Italy, Greenland and Mauritius to its “Level 4: Covid-19 Very High” category on Monday. These three countries were previously all in the Level 3 tier.
Countries are placed in this highest tier when there are more than 500 cases per 100,000 residents registered in the past 28 days. Just last week, France and six other destinations were also placed in Level 4.
The move for these countries follows the rapid spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant especially as Europe continues to struggle containing the spread.
For example in London, there has been a recent ‘tidal wave of infection’ according to UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid while Germany is dealing with its fourth wave of the COVID-19 virus.
To date, the CDC has moved seven countries to Level 4 and the United States on December 6 implemented stricter travel rules due to the variant.
As of December 13 there are more than 80 countries rated as level 4, some of them are popular tourist destinations such as
- Barbados
- Belize
- Cayman Islands
- Jordan
- Seychelles Islands
- Turkey
Level 3 countries, which are designated with between 100 and 500 cases per 100,000 residents in the past 28 days, only saw one new addition, Malaysia to its list. The Southeast Asian country was previously at Level 4.
Along with cruise ships – regardless if they are river or ocean-bound – are placed at Level 3 while a few Caribbean nations also populate this list.
The Level 2: Covid-19 Moderate tier saw three nations added including Jamaica, the Philippines and the Republic of Congo. Equatorial Guinea was the only new nation in the category of Level 1: Covid-19 Low destinations while these countries below are marked as “unknown” risk by the CDC:
- Cambodia
- Canary Islands
- Gibraltar
- Nicaragua
- Tanzania