CDC adds two popular island vacation spots to its travel risk list over Covid fears

Americans warned to avoid travel to Jamaica, Sri Lanka and Brunei because of rising Covid-19 cases

Graeme Massie
Los Angeles
Wednesday 08 September 2021 00:17 BST
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Americans have been advised against travelling to two tropical island vacation spots by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention because of rising Covid-19 cases.

Jamaica and Sri Lanka are now among a group of the highest-risk destinations for US travellers, according to the CDC’s updated travel advisories list.

Also added to Level 4 on the list, as the Delta variant of Covid-19 spikes around the world, is the tiny nation of Brunei on the island of Borneo.

The federal agency  recommends that people should avoid traveling to any Level 4 countries, and anyone who must go there should be fully vaccinated.

The CDC’s list is regularly updated and its travel notices range from Level 1 “low” risk, to Level 4 “very high” risk.

A Level 4 country is one that has had more than 500 cases per 100,000 residents in the past 28 days, according to the CDC.

Jamaica has seen a very low number of its residents vaccinated so far, with just 19 doses per 100 people as of Tuesday.

The country has seen officials impose a string of curfews since late August, with “no-movement” days also used to try and slow down the spread of virus.

Sri Lanka has had a much more successful vaccination rollout with 102 doses administered per 100 people as of Tuesday, but has seen a recent spike run cases despite that,

The three new additions join a string of popular travel destination already on the CDC’s Level 4 list, including Brazil and the United Kingdom.

Other countries include The Bahamas, Costa Rica, France, Greece, Iceland and Ireland.

Also on the list are Malaysia, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Thailand and Turkey.

The CDC also eased its ratings for the Netherlands, Malta, Guinea-Bissau and United Arab Emirates from Level 4 to Level 3, which urges unvaccinated Americans to avoid travel to those countries.

Australia also had its rating raised from Level 1 “Low” to Level 2 “Moderate.”

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