India-US travel curbs eased. What you need to know about CDC travel guidelines
The pandemic, which began two years ago, has led to multiple restrictions on travel and everyday life.
In a fresh concern over the global spike in cases, China and some parts of Europe are witnessing a new surge in cases led by the BA.2 variant of Omicron.
China’s Shanghai is the worst-hit currently where the cases recorded are over 4,400 mark. On the other hand, India’s covid cases are witnessing a sharp decline.
As India’s coronavirus cases dip, the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Monday eased its COVID-19 travel advisories for India. Top US medical body CDC took down India from Level 3 (high risk) to Level 1 (low risk).
The US department in a statement said, “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a Level 1 Travel Health Notice due to COVID-19, indicating a low level of COVID-19 in the country.
Your risk of contracting COVID-19 and developing severe symptoms may be lower if you are fully vaccinated with an FDA authorized vaccine.” It further added that “Before planning any international travel, please review the CDC’s specific recommendations for vaccinated and unvaccinated travellers.”
The CDC uses Travel Health Notices (THNs) to alert travellers to health threats around the world and advise them on how to protect themselves. The CDC has four levels of Covid-19 travel advisories for countries. Here’s all you need to know about them:
1. Level-1 (low risk): The level 1 of CDC guidelines include countries with a low Covid risk, as the name suggests. In its advisory, the CDC advises people to be sure of being “fully vaccinated before travelling to these destinations.” Currently, this category has over 30 countries including India, China, Kenya, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Taiwan, Uganda.
2. Level-2 (Moderate risk): The second level includes moderately-hit countries amid the pandemic. Under this category, the guideline asks travellers to be fully vaccinated, and those who are unvaccinated with an “increased risk for severe illness” to avoid non-essential travel.
There are 14 countries under this category including Bahamas, Bangladesh, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau,Jamaica, Kyrgyzstan, Malawi, Montserrat, Morocco, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Zambia.
3. Level 3 (High-risk): This level includes countries that are high-risk countries or those that are highly hit by covid-19. Under this category, all unvaccinated travellers are advised to avoid non-essential travel. This category includes Albania, Cuba, Botswana, Fiji, Ecuador, Indonesia, Peru, Qatar, South Africa, Sri Lanka, UAE, among other countries.
4. Level 4 (Very high-risk): Level 4 of the CDC guidelines include countries that are severely hit with the coronavirus. The CDC advises travellers to avoid complete travel to the countries under this category.
A maximum number of countries are under this category including Argentina, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Malaysia, Maldives, South Korea, Spain, United Kingdom, among others.
5. Level Unknown: The US agency has another ‘unknown’ level in its travel health notice list. This includes countries in which the covid-19 cases data is not known completely. Countries such as North Korea, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen are included in this category. The CDC advises travellers to avoid travelling to these destinations.
Meanwhile, the US, which was the worst-hit country due to the covid-19, has recorded over 81,658,973 cases so far, with 1,004,244 deaths.