14 Destinations Deemed Safer For Travel By CDC As COVID Cases Drop

As COVID cases decline around the world, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has dropped 14 destinations from its “very high” risk category for travel, marking them now safer for Americans to visit.

The 14 locations include Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belize, Canada, Grenada, Iran, Libya, Oman, Panama, Paraguay, Saint Lucia, and Suriname which were all moved down to Level 3 “high” risk.

This is the second week that the CDC has moved destinations off its Level 4 “very high” risk category after months of adding nations to the list, which had ballooned to over 140 locations back in February.

While the updates by the CDC are an encouraging sign for American travelers, almost 100 places still remain in the Level 4 category.

A Level 4 “very high” risk nation has more than 500 COVID cases per 100,000 residents reported in the past 28 days, while a Level 3 “high” destination has between 100 and 500 cases of the virus per 100,000 residents in the past 28 days.

The CDC recommends Americans traveling to a Level 3 destination be “up to date with your COVID-19 vaccines” but warns that “even if you are up to date with your COVID-19 vaccines, you may still be at risk for getting and spreading COVID-19.”

Also seeing positive improvements to their COVID situations this week were Botswana, Eswatini, Iraq, South Africa, and the Dominican Republic, which dropped to the Level 2 “moderate” category. All but Iraq had previously been listed in the Level 3 category, which made a significant improvement, moving down from Level 4.

A Level 2 destination has between 50 to 99 COVID cases per 100,000 residents reported in the past 28 days.

Updates were also made to the CDC’s Level 1 “low” risk category with the destinations Ghana, Jamaica, Malawi, Morocco, Nepal, and Pakistan being included. The six locations dropped from Level 2 as their COVID situations improved with decreasing cases of the virus. These locations have fewer than 50 cases of the virus per 100,000 residents reported over the past 28 days.

Three additions were made to the CDC’s “unknown” risk category, where reliable information about a nation’s COVID situation are unavailable. These places include French Guiana, Greenland, and Ukraine.