by Donald Wood
Last updated: 10:02 AM ET, Tue May 11, 2021
The United States Department of State announced changes to its travel advisory ratings, including reducing the alert levels for the United Kingdom and Israel.
According to Reuters.com, the State Department lowered the UK to a "Level 3: Reconsider Travel" rating and lowered Israel to "Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution" rating after previously raising warning levels last month amid COVID-19 concerns.
In April, the State Department announced the addition of around 80 percent of countries worldwide to the agency's "Level 4: Do Not Travel" due to the "unprecedented risk to travelers" from coronavirus infections.
At the time, the UK and Israel were added to the Level 4 category.
Earlier this month, Government officials in England revealed several COVID-19 related restrictions would be lifted on May 17, when international travel is scheduled to resume.
Transatlantic air travel is a key market for airlines, forcing a group of aviation industry companies and organizations to send a letter last week to U.S. President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson calling on the pair to reopen the air corridor to non-essential travelers.
After more than a year of being closed to international travel, Israel announced in April it would welcome visitors from foreign countries who have been vaccinated for COVID-19, starting on May 23.
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