CDC Eases Travel Recommendations for 100+ Countries

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has eased travel recommendations for over 100 countries and territories. One of those countries is Japan, which could be important for those planning to attend this summer’s Olympics. Foreign spectators have been banned however, and organizers are expected to make a decision late this month on domestic spectators.

With the new ratings that were first reported by Reuters, 61 nations moved from the highest “Level 4” rating that discouraged all travel, to “Level 3”. The CDC says to avoid travel to “Level 4” destinations. If you must travel to these destinations, make sure you are fully vaccinated before travel. For “Level 3” countries the CDC says to make sure you are fully vaccinated and unvaccinated travelers should avoid nonessential travel to those destinations.

Some of the countries that moved from level 4 to 3 include Japan, France, Ecuador, the Philippines, South Africa, Canada, Mexico, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, Honduras, Hungary, Italy, Honduras, Indonesia, Panama, Poland, Denmark and Malaysia. The United States itself is also part of this group. An additional 50 countries and territories have been lowered to “Level 2” or “Level 1,” a CDC spokeswoman said. Countries ranked lowest for COVID-19 risks now include Singapore, Israel, South Korea, Iceland, Belize and Albania.

Reuters says that the latest changes come after the U.S. State Department updated its recommendations to reflect the recent methodology update, but noted not all ratings were revised because of other factors including “ commercial flight availability,  restrictions  on U.S. citizen entry, and impediments to obtaining COVID test results within three calendar days.”

You can see more details and rating for each country and territory here.