On the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) revised risk assessment map, no country receives a Tier 4 frightening rating.
Center for Disease Control
TThroughout the pandemic, travelers have relied on health travel notices from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that assess travel risks to individual countries. Today, the agency has completely changed its world map.
Over the past 17 months, the CDC has used a four-tiered system for Covid-19 based on infection rates — the number of daily new cases per 100,000 residents. In order to select a destination in the dreaded level 4 risk level, whose “very high risk” comes with a “do not travel” warning, more than 500 new daily cases have been recorded per 100,000 people over the past 28 days.
The criteria for levels 3, 2, and 1 were also based on incidence rates, with a scaled-down from ‘high risk’ at level 3 to ‘moderate risk’ at level 2 to ‘low risk’ at level 1. For each of these risk levels, the control center recommended on diseases include: “Make sure you are fully vaccinated before traveling” and “Unvaccinated travelers should avoid non-essential travel.”
Last week, 89 countries remained in Tier 4, including almost the entire continent of Europe. But today, the CDC map looks dramatically different, with no countries at level 4, which now means “special circumstances/no travel.”
There are 122 countries at level 3, which still indicate “high risk” for Covid-19. The United States, Canada and Mexico are all at this level, as is all of Europe.
The new CDC system now “retains Level 4 travel health notifications for special circumstances, such as a rapidly escalating case trajectory or an extremely high case number, the emergence of a new worrisome variable, or the collapse of healthcare infrastructure,” according to a CDC statement. Levels 3, 2, and 1 will essentially continue to be determined by 28 days of occurrence or number of cases.
The agency says the change reflects a lower risk for the 74.3% of Americans age 12 or older who have been fully vaccinated, according to CDC data. However, less than half of Americans eligible for a booster dose have received one.
As the world began to open up to tourism, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s risk assessment map became less relevant. Large travel agencies are reporting speedy bookings for Europe, regardless of the CDC’s warning level. Last week, seven European Tier 4 destinations – Italy, France, Greece, UK, Spain, Ireland and Switzerland – dominated the top ten destinations for Virtuoso, whose 20,000 travel advisors make up the world’s largest luxury travel network. “The CDC’s guidance has little impact,” said Misty Beals, vice president of global public relations at Virtuoso.
With three out of four Americans over the age of 12 now fully vaccinated, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says it no longer makes sense to base a “no-travel” warning on the number of new daily cases.
“With this new configuration, travelers will have a more actionable alert when they do not travel to a particular destination (Level 4), regardless of vaccination status, so that we have a clearer understanding of the Covid-19 situation at that destination,” according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. .
Last week, the Biden administration extended the federal mask mandate for air travel and public transportation through May 3. It was due to end today, but the CDC said the extension was necessary due to the rise in new Covid-19 cases and to assess hospitalizations, deaths, and health care system capacity.
In March, the CDC dropped the health notice for Covid-19 travel for sailing. The agency continues to stress that cruisers must be “up to date” in vaccinations, which means booster injections for those who qualify. The CDC continues to recommend that people who have not received a booster dose should avoid sailing.
