CDC adds 2 destinations to its ‘high’ risk category for travel

(CNN) — A popular Middle Eastern destination and a tiny Dutch Caribbean island were added to the CDC’s “high” risk category for travel on Monday.

Jordan and Sint Eustatius were the only two additions to the Level 3, “high” risk category.

Level 3 locations account for more than half of the roughly 235 places monitored by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The designation applies to places that have had more than 100 cases per 100,000 residents in the past 28 days. Level 2 and Level 1 are considered “moderate” and “low” risk, respectively.

To recap, these two destinations were added to Level 3 on August 8:

• Jordan
• Sint Eustatius

Level 4, previously the highest risk category, is now reserved only for special circumstances, such as extremely high case counts, emergence of a new variant of concern or health care infrastructure collapse. Under the new system, no destinations have been placed at Level 4 so far.

A view of the volcanic Caribbean island of Sint Eustatius seen from St Kitts. Sint Eustatius is now at Level 3, “high” risk for Covid.

182485895/eqroy – stock.adobe.com

More on Level 3

Much of Europe has been stubbornly lodged at Level 3 for months with the summer travel season now in a traditionally busy August. The following popular European destinations were among those remaining at Level 3 as of August 8:

• France
• Germany
• Greece
• Ireland
• Italy
• The Netherlands
• Norway
• Portugal
• Spain
• United Kingdom

Those aren’t the only high-profile spots that find themselves at Level 3. Numerous other destinations around the world are among those in the “high” risk category, including the following:

• Brazil
• Canada
• Costa Rica
• Malaysia
• Mexico
• South Korea
• Thailand
• Turkey

Senegal, with the Ngor area of Dakar pictured, moved to Level 2 on Monday.

Adobe Stock

Level 2

Destinations carrying the “Level 2: Covid-19 Moderate” designation reported 50 to 100 Covid-19 cases per 100,000 residents in the past 28 days. The CDC designated three new Level 2 places on Monday:

• Azerbaijan
• Kyrgyzstan
• Senegal

The move was bad news for all three locations, which were all previously listed at Level 1. There are 20 places listed at Level 2 this week.