5 More Destinations Upgraded To CDC’s Highest Travel Risk Amid Increasing COVID Cases

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has moved more locations to its highest risk category for American travelers as their COVID situation worsens.

On Monday, the CDC added five destinations to its Level 3 “high” risk list, which includes nations with more than 100 COVID cases per 100,000 residents reported in the past 28 days.

Upgraded by the agency were the nations of Colombia, Iraq, Kosovo, North Macedonia, and Paraguay. Previously, Kosovo was in the Level 1 “low” risk category, while the other locations moved up one notch from Level 2 “moderate” risk.

Currently, Level 3 is the highest risk category for travel, as the CDC has reserved Level 4 for special circumstances such as an extreme COVID case count, an emerging new variant of the virus, or the complete collapse of a healthcare system in a country.

Of the 235 locations that the CDC is monitoring, about 115 destinations are listed in the Level 3 category. No nations are in the Level 4 “very high” risk category to date.

Level 3, however, has a wide range of countries listed, including much of Europe, Canada, Mexico, and many locations in the Caribbean, South America, and Asia.

American travelers looking to go to a Level 3 place are urged by the CDC to be up to date on their vaccines and boosters before their visit, but the agency does warn 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.”

Level 3 was not the only category to see changes on Monday, as the CDC moved seven destinations to its Level 2 “moderate” risk category. Movers were Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), El Salvador, Eswatini, Gabon, Lesotho, Mauritania, and South Africa.

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

Eswatini, Lesotho, and South Africa all saw their COVID situations improve in recent days, moving down from Level 3, while Gabon, Côte d'Ivoire, El Salvador, and Mauritania had worsening COVID cases, moving up from Level 1 “low” risk.

About 20 locations sit in the Level 2 category currently, including places such as Fiji, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, Poland, and Zambia.

Also seeing changes on Monday was Liberia, which slipped into the Level 1 “low” risk category.

A Level 1 location has 49 or fewer COVID cases per 100,000 residents reported over the past 28 days. About 35 nations are currently listed in the category, including China, India, the Philippines, Romania, Egypt, and Indonesia.

Lastly, the CDC reserves its “unknown” category for locations that have unreliable information about their COVID situation. This week, the agency added Sri Lanka to the “unknown” category.

Other locations listed in the category include Armenia, French Polynesia, Ghana, Iran, the Maldives, and Venezuela. There are almost 65 nations listed in the “unknown” category to date.