Just as many Americans were starting feel as if the pandemic might be coming to an end, Monday the U.S. State Department updated its travel advisories to align with recommendations from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -- including a change that "will result in a significant increase in the number of countries at “Level 4: Do Not Travel, to approximately 80% of countries worldwide."
"This does not imply a reassessment of the current health situation in a given country, but rather reflects an adjustment in the State Department's Travel Advisory system to rely more on CDC's existing epidemiological assessments," the department said in a statement sent to CNN.
The updated advisory comes as deaths from COVID-19 worldwide have reached more than 3 million.
"As the COVID-19 situation around the world changes, CDC is monitoring COVID-19 risk in destinations around the world and making travel recommendations,” the CDC travel site reads.
As of April 19, there are over 100 countries listes on the “Level 4: Do Not Travel alert” many that have been on that leve since early April -- which can be due to COVID-19 along with issues of crime and civil unrest.
Just to name a few countries on the CDC’s Level 4: Bahamas, Aruba, France, Austria, Italy, Brazil, India, Domincan Republic, the Netherlands, Russia, United Kingdom, Croatia and Mexico.
Level 1 countries include Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, China, Fiji and Vietnam.
The CDC additionally notes that "international travel poses additional risks and even fully vaccinated travelers are at increased risk for getting and possibly spreading new COVID-19 variants… and recommends delaying international travel until you are fully vaccinated," it says.
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