Americans Tourists Are Warned To Stay Away From This Tropical Island As COVID Cases Surge

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a warning for American travelers to stay away from one popular tourist destination – Aruba - deeming it a “very high” risk as COVID cases on the island escalate.

The tropical island of Aruba was put on the CDC’s Level 4 “very high” risk category on Tuesday, as the agency said it was unsafe to travel to the Caribbean location even if fully vaccinated as there “may be at risk for getting and spreading COVID-19 variants.”

A Level 4 or “very high” risk category nation has more than 500 cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 residents reported in the past 28 days.

More than 80 destinations are listed as Level 4 – the highest risk category listed by the CDC –including France, Germany, Greece, the U.K., Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, South Africa, Russia, and Switzerland.

Cruise ship travel is also listed as a Level 4 risk and is warned to be avoided no matter vaccination status by the CDC.

The CDC also made changes to its Level 3 “high” risk category, adding eight destinations. Azerbaijan, the Bahamas, Kenya, Moldova, Mongolia, Romania, Sint Maarten, and Suriname all moved to Level 3, which is determined as having between 100 and 500 virus cases per 100,000 residents in the past 28 days.

The COVID situations in Azerbaijan, Moldova, Mongolia, and Romania, have improved, moving them down from Level 4, while the Bahamas and Sint Maarten moved up from Level 2 “moderate” risks.

Kenya moved up three spots from the Level 1 “low” risk category to Level 3 “high” risk, while Suriname, which was previously listed as an “unknown,” where reliable information about its COVID situation did not exist, was placed as Level 3 this week.

Also updated this week by the CDC to Level 2 or “moderate” risk destinations were Costa Rica, Madagascar, Nigeria, and Zambia.

The CDC’s Level 2 category is determined as having 50 to 99 COVID cases per 100,000 residents over the past 28 days.

Costa Rica saw its COVID cases count improve from Level 3, while both Nigeria and Zambia moved up from Level 1 as virus cases worsened. Madagascar was previously an “unknown” location.

Two destinations made moves to the Level 1 “low” risk category this week with Niger and the Philippines moving from Level 4 and Level 2, respectively.

Level 1 is deemed as having fewer than 50 virus cases per 100,000 residents reported over the past 28 days.

Singapore made an unusual drop from Level 4 to the “unknown” category as there was a lack of information about its COVID situation to make a determination about the safety of traveling to the location.