CDC Adds Eight Destinations To Highest Travel Risk Levels

Spain and seven other destinations have been now designated by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) with the highest travel risk level, encouraging American travelers to not travel to these countries.

The CDC has been measuring the travel risks of each country due to the coronavirus pandemic. The greater the transmission in a country, the higher their risk level. The highest level, Level 4, is given to a country that sees more than 500 cases per 100,000 residents within the past 28 days.

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According to CNN, seven other destinations have been moved to the “Level 4: COVID-19 Very High” risk level on December 20, including Bonaire, Chad, Finland, Gibraltar, Lebanon, Monaco and San Marino. There are currently 88 countries under the Level 4 category.

One week earlier, on December 14, the CDC had changed the status of Greenland, Italy and Mauritius to the Level 4 category as well.

These new changes come as the Omicron variant once again shakes up the fabric of international travel. While most countries banned travel to Southern Africa earlier this month, other countries are making it harder to travel between countries like the U.S., which has seen the Omicron variant spread profusely throughout the country. Israel, for example, has banned travel to the U.S. and Canada.

Other countries, especially in Europe, have seen a stunning rise in Omicron variant cases, prompting tighter travel restrictions to the United Kingdom, Greece and Italy, as the E.U. member nations struggle to create cohesive restrictions that both limit the spread of the new variant without hindering the holiday travel season.

These newly designated Level 4 countries in Europe also have some of the highest vaccination rates, but also some of the highest rates of transmission. According to Our World in Data, Spain, Italy, Finland and the U.K. boast better vaccination rates than the United States.

The U.K. and Spain are both seeing extremely high numbers of positive COVID-19 cases, as is the U.S. Italy and Finland are seeing high numbers as well, but not as high as the United States, which is seeing just less than 420 positive cases per 100,000 people.

For the latest insight on travel around the world, check out this interactive guide:

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