Another Tropical Vacation Spot Upgraded To ‘High’ Risk As COVID Cases Continue To Rise

With COVID cases rising in many parts of the world, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention rated five locations as “high” risk for travelers, including the popular tourist destination of the Bahamas.

The Bahamas — along with Belize, Eswatini, Montserrat, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines — were moved into the Level 3 “high” risk category on Monday as these nations saw their COVID situations worsen.

All of the locations, except Montserrat, were previously listed in the Level 2 “moderate” risk category previously. Montserrat was previously listed in the Level 1 “low” risk category, moving up two spots to Level 3.

A Level 3 “high” risk nation has more than 100 COVID cases per 100,000 residents reported in the past 28 days, the CDC said.

Currently, there are about 115 destinations listed in the Level 3 category, including most of Europe, Canada, Costa Rica, Brazil, South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, and Australia.

The CDC advises travelers to make sure they are up to date with their COVID-19 vaccines before traveling to a Level 3 destination, adding 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.”

Of the about 235 nations the CDC is currently monitoring, none are listed in the Level 4 “very high” risk category as the agency revamped its COVID-19 travel advisories in April, now saving the category for special circumstances such as extreme COVID circumstances.

Updates were also made to the CDC’s Level 2 “moderate” risk category for travel on Monday with the additions of Jamaica, Kuwait, and Mongolia.

Kuwait saw its COVID situation improve as it moved down from Level 3, while Jamaica and Mongolia both had increasing COVID cases in the last week, moving up from the Level 1 “low” risk category.

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

Currently, there are less than 20 locations in the Level 2 category, including nations such as Anguilla, Fiji, Mexico, Iran, Iraq, United Arab Emirates, and Peru,

The CDC also made changes to its Level 1 “low” risk category, adding Egypt as the country had been previously been listed in the “unknown” risk category.

An “unknown” nation has unreliable information about its COVID situation or is undergoing unrest or warfare, which makes the risks of contracting COVID-19 simply unknown.

The CDC determines a Level 1 destination as having 49 or fewer cases of the virus per 100,000 residents over the past 28 days.

Currently, the CDC’s Level 1 category has about 55 locations, which include Jordan, Sri Lanka, Bolivia, Zimbabwe, Indonesia, Armenia, China, India, and the Philippines.

One nation was also added to the CDC’s “unknown” risk category with the addition of Mauritania, which had previously been listed at Level 1. Other unknown destinations include French Polynesia, the Azores, Cambodia, and Tanzania.