In addition to previously-issues advisories against travel to China, South Korea, Malaysia, Iran, Europe, the United Kingdom and Ireland, over the past four days, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has expanded its list of Level-3 Travel Advisories to include several more countries, which are experiencing "widespread ongoing transmission of a respiratory illness caused by the novel (new) coronavirus (COVID-19)."
A Level-3 Travel Advisory is the CDC's highest alert level, warning Americans to "Avoid Nonessential Travel".
"Widespread ongoing transmission means that people have been infected with the virus, but how or where they became infected is not known, and virus transmission is ongoing in many communities across a country or region," the notices clarify.
Over the weekend, new Level-3 warnings were issued against travel to Australia, Canada, Brazil, Israel and Japan. Yesterday, Chile, Pakistan, Thailand and Turkey were added to the list. Then, just today, Ecuador, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Qatar, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa also joined the ranks.
The CDC recommends that those who have spent time in any of these countries within the past fourteen days should stay at home to monitor their health and practice social distancing for a further fourteen days following their return. In these travel notices, the CDC explains, "Social distancing means staying out of crowded places, avoiding group gatherings, and maintaining distance (approximately six feet or two meters) from others when possible."
There is now evidence of sustained transmission of the COVID-19 virus on six continents, with the novel coronavirus having been detected in at least 166 countries. As of this morning, the coronavirus pandemic has seen 382,000 become infected worldwide, with at least 16,890 having died from the most serious effects of the disease, according to the New York Times' database and its official tracking website.
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