Sharjah24 – Reuters: The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has eased travel recommendations for more than 110 countries and territories, including Japan just ahead of the Olympics.
The CDC's new ratings, first reported by Reuters and posted on a CDC website on Monday, include 61 nations that were lowered from its highest "Level 4" rating that discouraged all travel to recommending travel for fully vaccinated individuals, the agency confirmed on Tuesday.
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.
Among those now listed at "Level 3," are France, Ecuador, the Philippines, South Africa, Canada, Mexico, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, Honduras, Hungary and Italy.
The U.S. State Department said it had 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."
The State Department eased its ratings on 85 countries and territories, including Japan.
The CDC said the change came after it revised its criteria for travel health notices. The CDC said it also revised its rating for the United States to "Level 3" from "Level 4."
The agency said the new criteria for a Level 4 "avoid all travel" recommendation has changed to 500 cases per 100,000 from 100 COVID-19 cases per 100,000.
Other countries being lowered to "Level 3" include Honduras, Indonesia, Jordan, Libya, Panama, Poland, Denmark and Malaysia.
Many of the countries that now have lower ratings remain on the U.S. government's list of countries subject to severe travel restrictions - and most have been subject to the restrictions since early 2020.
The United States bars nearly all non-U.S. citizens who have within the previous 14 days been to China, the United Kingdom, Ireland, India, South Africa, Brazil, Iran and the 26 Schengen nations in Europe without border controls.
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