“This does not imply a reassessment of the current health situation in a particular country, but reflects an adjustment in the State Department’s travel counseling system to place more reliance on existing CDC epidemiological assessments,” the department in a note to the media.
In Monday’s note, the department noted that “the COVID-19 pandemic continues to pose unprecedented risks to travelers.”
“In the face of these risks, the State Department strongly recommends U.S. citizens to reconsider all travel abroad,” he said.
“As always, we are closely monitoring conditions around the world and will regularly update our specific destination tips for U.S. travelers as conditions evolve,” he noted.
There are currently about three dozen countries with the state department’s Level 4 alert: Don’t travel, the highest level of travel advice. U.S. citizens are warned not to travel to these countries for a variety of reasons, including Covid-19, crime, and civil unrest.
On its travel advice page, the CDC notes that “international travel carries additional risks and even fully vaccinated travelers are at increased risk of obtaining and possibly spreading new variants of COVID-19.”
“CDC recommends delaying international travel until it is fully vaccinated,” he says.