4 places moved to the CDC’s ‘high’ risk category for travel

Wednesday, July 13, 2022

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has moved two South American destinations, one Middle Eastern country and a North African nation to its “high” risk category for travel.

Four destinations were moved to Level 3, or “high” risk on Monday:

• Bolivia

• Lebanon

• Peru

• Tunisia

Peru, known for its capital city’s culinary excellence and remarkable Inca ruins in the Andes, was previously listed at Level 2, “moderate” risk. Bolivia, Lebanon and Tunisia were also listed at Level 2 last week.

The CDC overhauled its ratings system for assessing Covid-19 risk for travellers in April.

Level 3, or “high,” is now the top rung in terms of risk level and applies to places that have had more than 100 cases per 100,000 residents in the past 28 days. Level 2 and Level 1 are considered “moderate” and “low” risk, respectively.

There were about 115 destinations at Level 3 on July 11. Level 3 locations account for nearly 50% of the roughly 235 places monitored by the CDC.

Level 4, previously the highest risk category, is now reserved only for special circumstances, such as extremely high case counts, emergence of a new variant of concern or health care infrastructure collapse.

Under the new system, no destinations have been placed at Level 4 so far.

Level 2

Destinations carrying the “Level 2: Covid-19 Moderate” designation reported 50 to 100 Covid-19 cases per 100,000 residents in the past 28 days. The CDC moved just one place to this level on Monday: Fiji.

Fiji moved up from the Level 1, “low” risk category.

There are 16 places in the “moderate” risk category this week.

In its broader travel guidance, the CDC recommends being up to date with your vaccines before travelling internationally.

Level 1

To be listed as “Level 1: Covid-19 Low,” a destination must have had 49 or fewer new cases per 100,000 residents over the past 28 days. Just one place was added to the category on July 11: Romania.

The move to Level 1 is good news for Romania, which was listed in Level 2 last week.

There are more than 40 places in the “low” risk category this week.

A few of the more popular places in the “low” risk category this week include Indonesia, India and the Philippines.

Finally, there are the destinations the CDC has deemed to be of “unknown” risk because of a lack of information.

Usually, but not always, these are small, remote places or places with ongoing warfare or unrest.

Four places were added to this category this week:

• Armenia

• Laos

• Liberia

• Mongolia

Armenia and Liberia were previously listed at Level 1. Laos and Mongolia were listed at Level 3.

The CDC advises against travel to these places precisely because the risks are unknown.

Other destinations in this category that typically draw more tourist attention include French Polynesia, Macau and the Maldives.

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