WASHINGTON, USA
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Monday advised Americans against travel to France, Jordan, Portugal, and Tanzania, citing COVID-19 concerns.
The CDC now lists 83 destinations at
"Level 4: Very High" classification and also on Monday added Andorra,
Cyprus and Liechtenstein to the highest travel advisory level.
France said Monday it would close nightclubs
ahead of Christmas and tighten social distancing measures in response to the
emergent Omicron variant of the coronavirus, but that there was no need for new
lockdowns or curfews.
Prime Minister Jean Castex said a fifth wave of
the pandemic was surging, but with 52 million people now vaccinated - nearly
90% of those eligible - the situation was better than in previous outbreaks.
The United States imposed new rules, effective
Monday, requiring international air travelers arriving in the United States to
obtain a negative COVID-19 test within one day of travel.
Under the prior rules, vaccinated international
air travelers could present a negative test result obtained within three days
of their day of departure.
Some airline officials told Reuters there is a
three-day grace period to allow for some travelers to return to the United
States with tests taken outside of the one-day window.
A CDC spokeswoman declined to confirm that but
said "CDC is exercising some enforcement discretion as this requirement is
put in place."
Destinations
that fall into the CDC's "Covid-19 Very High" Level 4 category have
had more than 500 cases per 100,000 residents in the past 28 days.
People
should avoid traveling to locations designated with a "Level 4"
notice, the CDC recommends. Anyone who must travel should be fully vaccinated
first, the agency advises.
In
its broader travel guidance,
the CDC has recommended avoiding all international travel until you are fully
vaccinated.
"Fully
vaccinated travelers are less likely to get and spread Covid-19. However,
international travel poses additional risks, and even fully vaccinated
travelers might be at increased risk for getting and possibly spreading some
Covid-19 variants," the agency said.
All
of these European destinations, plus Jordan in the Middle East, had previously
been considered "high" risk at Level 3. Previously, safari favorite
Tanzania had been rated "unknown" for lack of reliable information.
Effective Nov. 29, the White House barred
nearly all foreign nationals from entering the United States from eight southern
African countries over fears of the spread of the Omicron variant, but has not
extended those travel restrictions to other countries where the new variant has
been discovered.
France said Monday it has now identified 25
positive cases of the Omicron variant.
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Monday that the African travel restrictions were "being evaluated and discussed on a daily basis."
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