Chennai: United States’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had advised its citizens to avoid travelling to India amid a massive surge in Covid-19 cases in the country.
In a statement, the CDC said, “Because of the current situation in India even fully vaccinated travellers may be at risk for getting and spreading Covid-19 variants and should avoid all travel to India. If you must travel to India, get fully vaccinated before travel. All travellers should wear a mask, stay 6 feet from others, avoid crowds, and wash their hands.”
The US State Department said on Monday it will boost its ‘Do Not Travel’ guidance to about 80 per cent of countries worldwide, citing ‘unprecedented risk to travelers’ from the Covid-19 pandemic.
“This update will result in a significant increase in the number of countries at Level 4: Do Not Travel, to approximately 80 per cent of countries worldwide,” the department said in a statement.
The State Department already listed 34 out of about 200 countries as ‘Level 4: Do Not Travel,’ including places like Chad, Kosovo, Kenya, Brazil, Argentina, Haiti, Mozambique, Russia and Tanzania. Getting to 80 per cent would imply adding nearly 130 countries.