As COVID-19 continues to shift from a pandemic into an epidemic and cases continue to remain low, the CDC has announced that it is removing all countries from its ‘Level 4 – Do Not Travel’ warning. Travel Pulse reports that this means around 90 countries and territories are being removed from the list, most of which are getting dropped to a Level 3.
The Level 4 warning will now be used for countries that are experiencing a massive spike in COVID cases or one that is currently trying to handle a large load of positive cases. Currently, no nations fall into this category.
According to USA Today, the new ranking system from the CDC looks like this:
The highest Level 4 designation will now be reserved for “special circumstances” reflecting a dangerous spike in COVID-19 cases, a new variant or health care infrastructure collapse.
Countries with a “high level of COVID-19” are considered Level 3. Travelers who are not fully vaccinated are still advised to avoid travel to these destinations, but the warning does not apply to fully vaccinated visitors.
The CDC classifies countries with “moderate” COVID-19 levels into Level 2 and “low” COVID-19 levels into Level 1.
This news comes as America has just essentially ended its federal mask mandate for transportation, meaning that life just got a lot easier for travelers on all modes of transportation. However, the US still has its entry testing requirement in place for everyone returning from international destinations. However, with these new developments, it’s likely that travelers may soon see this protocol eliminated as well.
