United States to extend ‘do not travel’ recommendations to 80% of countries around the world due to coronavirus pandemic

The US State Department said on Monday it would increase its recommendation to “not travel” to about 80% of countries in the world, citing the “unprecedented risk to travelers” of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The foreign relations authorities they had already cataloged 34 of the nearly 200 countries as “Level 4: do not travel”, including places like Chad, Kosovo, Kenya, Brazil, Argentina, Haiti, Mozambique, Russia, and Tanzania.

“This update will significantly increase the number of countries at level 4: Do not travel, to around 80% of countries in the worldThe ministry said in a statement. Reaching 80% would mean adding almost 130 countries.

The State Department said the measure did not involve a reassessment of the current health situation in some countries, but rather “reflected an adjustment to the State Department’s travel advisory system to rely more on the assessments. existing epidemiological (disease control and prevention centers) ”.

Most Americans were already banned from traveling in much of Europe due to COVID-19 restrictions. Washington has banned nearly all non-U.S. Citizens who have recently visited most of Europe, China, Brazil, Iran, and South Africa..

The White House has not given a deadline to ease these restrictions.

When asked about the State Department’s announcement, Airlines for America, a trade group representing major US airlines, said that “the airline industry in the United States has been a strong advocate for the development of a leaf data-driven and risk-based roadmap to restore international travel ”. . The group added that it continued to “urge the federal government to transparently establish criteria – including clear parameters, benchmarks and a timeline – for reopening international markets.”

The CDC did not immediately comment.

Earlier this month, the CDC said that las personas que están totalmente vacunadas contra COVID-19 pueden viajar con seguridad dentro de Estados Unidos con “bajo riesgo”, pero la directora de los CDC, Rochelle Walensky, desaconsejó a los estadounidenses hacerlo debido a los elevados numbers of cases of coronavirus in todo the country.

(With information from Reuters / By David Shepardson)

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