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(CNN) — The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention moved three high-profile destinations to its highest-risk Level 4 category for travel on Monday.
Hong Kong and New Zealand have spent much of the pandemic in near isolation with relatively few infections and had been lauded as Covid success stories. However, the Omicron variant has caused massive spikes in cases in both places.
The CDC places a destination at “Level 4: Covid-19 Very High” risk when more than 500 cases per 100,000 residents are registered in the past 28 days.
To recap, the destinations added to Level 4 on March 7 are:
• Hong Kong
• New Zealand
• Thailand
All three destinations were previously listed at Level 3, considered “high” risk.
Global case numbers have been declining since peaking in late January, but experts caution that the pandemic is not over.
London is an international tourism favorite and the largest city in the United Kingdom, which has been at Level 4 since last summer.
Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images
There are about 135 destinations currently at Level 4. While the number of places in the “very high” risk category has dipped slightly since topping around 140 in February, there are still more places in the Level 4 category than in all the other categories combined.
The CDC advises avoiding travel to Level 4 countries. CDC thresholds for travel health notices are based primarily on the number of Covid-19 cases in a destination.
Other tourist favorites stalled on Level 4 include Canada, Egypt, France, Greece, Peru and Singapore. The United Kingdom has been there since July 2021.
Mexico, with Bahia Principe beach in Tulum pictured here, moved down from Level 4 to Level 3 on Monday.
Rodrigo Arangua/AFP via Getty Images
Tourists looking for some news that’s trending in a good direction will find it on this level.
The Level 3 “high” risk category — which applies to destinations that have had between 100 and 500 cases per 100,000 residents in the past 28 days — saw six additions from various spots around the globe on Monday. They were:
• Anguilla
• Cape Verde
• Fiji
• Mexico
• Philippines
• United Arab Emirates
On Monday, there was good news for people who are dreaming of a trip to Africa.
Destinations carrying the “Level 2: Covid-19 Moderate” designation have seen 50 to 99 Covid-19 cases per 100,000 residents in the past 28 days. Nine destinations representing all sections of the continent moved to Level 2 on March 7:
• Angola
• Djibouti
• Equatorial Guinea
• Ethiopia
• The Gambia
• Mauritania
• Mozambique
• Namibia
• Senegal
Last week, all of these destinations were at Level 3.
Africa continued to be a bright spot with the Level 1 category as well, including the popular safari and cultural favorite Kenya.
To be in “Level 1: Covid-19 Low,” a destination must have fewer than 50 new cases per 100,000 residents over the past 28 days. Eight places moved to Level 1 on Monday:
• Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast)
• Kenya
• Lesotho
• Niger
• Rwanda
• Republic of Congo
• Togo
• Uganda
The only destinations now listed at Level 1 outside of Africa are China and Taiwan.
Finally, there are destinations for which the CDC has an “unknown” risk because of a lack of information. Usually, but not always, these are small, remote places or places with ongoing warfare or unrest. The CDC made no new additions to the category on Monday.
Tanzania, Cambodia and Macau are among the more-visited locations currently listed in the unknown category. The CDC advises against travel to these places precisely because the risks are unknown.
Transmission rates are “one guidepost” for travelers’ personal risk calculations, according to CNN Medical Analyst Dr. Leana Wen.
“We are entering a phase in the pandemic where people need to make their own decisions based on their medical circumstances as well as their risk tolerance when it comes to contracting Covid-19,” Wen said in mid-February.
“You should interpret Level 4 to mean this is a place with a lot of community transmission of Covid-19. So if you go, there is a higher chance that you could contract the coronavirus,” said Wen, who is an emergency physician and professor of health policy and management at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health.
Some people will decide the risk is too high for them, Wen said. “Other people will say, ‘Because I am vaccinated and boosted, I am willing to take on that risk.’
“So this really needs to be a personal decision that people weigh understanding that right now the CDC is classifying the different levels based on community transmission rates, and basically only that,” Wen said. “They’re not taking into account individual circumstances.”
Top image: An aerial view shows buildings from the Mid-Levels area of Hong Kong on May 25, 2021. (Peter Parks/AFP via Getty Images)
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Vickie Everhart with Krouse Journey shares recommendations on how to continue to be risk-free and healthful on a cruise, if you come to a decision to get a single. PENNSYLVANIA, United states — The CDC states persons ought to stay clear of heading on cruises …
(CNN) — Canada was moved to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s highest-risk category for travel on Monday.
Canada was joined by one other destination — the Caribbean island of Curaçao — in moving up to the CDC’s Level 4: Covid-19 Very High category on Monday.
The CDC places a destination at Level 4 when more than 500 cases per 100,000 residents are registered in the past 28 days. The CDC advises travelers to avoid travel to Level 4 countries.
Canada had previously been at Level 3 since August 30, 2021. Curaçao, a self-governing country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, had been at Level 3 since November 22, 2021.
Most international visitors to Canada are required to be vaccinated and to have a negative Covid-19 test result.
Pastel colored buildings line the waterfront of old town Willemstad, Curaçao. This Dutch island has been moved up to risk Level 4 by the CDC, joining ‘ABC’ sister islands Aruba and Bonaire.
Daniel Slim/AFP via Getty Images
In addition to new entries Canada and Curaçao, some of the biggest travel names remain firmly lodged at the CDC’s Level 4 for now:
• France
• Iceland
• Ireland
• Italy
• Netherlands
• Portugal
• South Africa
• Spain
• Switzerland
• United Kingdom
The Norwegian Gem, owned by Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, is moored at PortMiami in August 2021.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
The Level 3 category — which applies to destinations that have had between 100 and 500 cases per 100,000 residents in the past 28 days — saw 10 new additions on Monday from a variety of regions:
• Armenia
• Bahrain
• Belarus
• Cape Verde
• Ethiopia
• Lesotho
• Singapore
• United Arab Emirates
• Zambia
• Zimbabwe
The Level 3 designation was actually good news for Armenia and Belarus, which had previously been at Level 4.
It was a move in the wrong direction for Bahrain, Cape Verde, Ethiopia and Zambia, which had been at Level 2. The United Arab Emirates jumped up two risk levels from Level 1.
And Singapore, which was listed as unknown last week because of a lack of information, moved into Level 3.
Destinations carrying the “Level 2: Covid-19 Moderate” designation have seen 50 to 99 Covid-19 cases per 100,000 residents in the past 28 days. That level saw eight new additions Monday, five of them in Africa:
• Democratic Republic of the Congo
• El Salvador
• Fiji
• Kuwait
• Liberia
• Rwanda
• São Tomé and Príncipe
• Togo
In the category of “Level 1: Covid-19 Low” destinations, fewer than 50 new cases per 100,000 residents have been logged over the past 28 days. There were no updates to that category on Monday.
Finally, there are destinations for which the CDC has an “unknown” risk because of a lack of information. Usually, but not always, these are small, remote places. No new destinations were listed in the “unknown” category on Monday.
Transmission rates are important to consider when making travel decisions, but there are other factors to weigh as well, according Dr. Leana Wen, a CNN medical analyst, emergency physician and professor of health policy and management at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health.
“The transmission rates are one guidepost,” Wen said. “Another is what precautions are required and followed in the place that you’re going and then the third is what are you planning to do once you’re there.
“Are you planning to visit a lot of attractions and go to indoor bars? That’s very different from you’re going somewhere where you’re planning to lie on the beach all day and not interact with anyone else. That’s very different. Those are very different levels of risk.”
Vaccination is the most significant safety factor for travel since unvaccinated travelers are more likely to become ill and transmit Covid-19 to others, Wen said.
She said people should be wearing a high-quality mask — N95, KN95 or KF94 — anytime they’re in crowded indoor settings with people of unknown vaccination status.
Before you travel, it’s also important to consider what you would do if you end up testing positive away from home, Wen said. Where will you stay and how easy will it be to get a test to return home?