The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday updated their international travel policies to provide specific advice to both vaccinated and unvaccinated travelers.
The update calls for 33 countries, including Iceland, Israel and Singapore, to be moved to the lowest risk category.
The CDC’s revised Covid-19 guidelines on travel health notification aim to better differentiate “countries with severe outbreak situations from countries where Covid-19 is” maintained but controlled “.
The CDC threat levels are determined by the number of Covid-19 cases in a given country. At every level, the CDC recommends getting vaccinated, but its guidelines for unvaccinated individuals vary depending on the severity of the pandemic in each country.
The CDC recommends avoiding travel to level 4 countries, the highest threat level, with more than 500 cases per 100,000 population in the past 28 days. Level 4 countries include nations such as Brazil, India, and Iraq.
For level 3 countries such as Mexico, Russia and Iran, the CDC recommends that non-vaccinated persons refrain from travel that is not absolutely necessary. These countries currently report 100 to 500 cases per 100,000 population.
At level 2, the agency recommends that unvaccinated travelers who are at great risk from Covid-19 avoid visiting. These nations, like Finland, Cambodia, and Kenya, currently report 50-99 cases per 100,000.
After all, Level 1 countries like Australia and New Zealand are considered the lowest risk travel destinations and have reported fewer than 50 Covid-19 cases in the past 28 days. The CDC still recommends getting vaccinated before traveling to a place with low risk.
View the CDC’s travel health notice here and the CDC’s interactive travel map here.