Travelers walk through a pick-up area from the arrivals section at SeaTac Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Washington, USA April 12, 2021. REUTERS / Lindsey Wasson
The US State Department said on Monday that it would increase the “Don’t travel” orientation to about 80% of countries around the world, citing “an unprecedented risk to travel” due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This update will result in a significant increase in the number of countries at level 4: Do not travel to about 80% of countries worldwide,” the department said in a statement.
The state department has already listed 34 of about 200 countries as “Level 4: Don’t travel”, including places such as Chad, Kosovo, Kenya, Brazil, Argentina, Haiti, Mozambique, Russia and Tanzania. Reaching 80% would mean adding almost 130 countries.
Most Americans have already been prevented from traveling much of Europe due to COVID-19 restrictions. Washington has banned almost all non-US citizens who have recently been to most of Europe, China, Brazil, Iran and South Africa.
The State Department said the measure does not involve a reassessment of current health conditions in some countries, but rather “reflects an adjustment of the State Department’s travel counseling system to build more on existing epidemiological assessments.” Disease Control and Prevention).
The CDC did not comment immediately.
Earlier this month, the CDC said people who are completely vaccinated against COVID-19 can travel safely to the United States with “low risk,” but CDC director Rochelle Walensky discouraged Americans from doing so because of high coronavirus cases nationwide.
“We know we have an increasing number of cases at the moment. I would argue against general travel in general,” Walensky said. “We do not recommend travel at this time, especially for unvaccinated people.”
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