CDC designates Ukraine as 'very high' COVID-19 travel risk

Oct. 25 (UPI) -- The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday designated Ukraine as a "very high" risk travel destination.

The health agency designated Ukraine as "Level 4: Very High," its most severe travel warning, citing high amounts of COVID-19 cases in the Eastern European nation.

Ukraine has reported 397,851 COVID-19 cases and 8,727 deaths in the past 28 days, according to data gathered by Johns Hopkins University.

The CDC defines a "Level 4: Very High" COVID-19 risk destination as an area that has reported more than 500 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents within the past 28 days.

Monday's designation marks the second consecutive week the CDC has only designated one new nation as a Level 4 travel risk, after designating Singapore last week.

The current list of Level 4 destinations also includes Austria, Bahamas, Botswana, Croatia, Greece, Ireland, Jamaica, Maldives, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey and Britain.

Seven destinations including Guatemala, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritius, Puerto Rico, Saint Martin and Sri Lanka were downgraded from Level 4 to "Level 3: High" risk.

Egypt and the Dominican Republic were moved up to Level 3 from "Level 2: Moderate" and the Cayman Islands were raised from "Level 1: Low."

Destinations designated as a Level 3 risk have had between 100 and 500 cases per 100,000 residents in the past 28 days, while Level 2 destinations have reported 50 to 99 cases per 100,000 residents in the same period.