CDC increases COVID-19 travel risk for Greenland, Italy, Mauritius

Dec. 13 (UPI) -- The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday elevated the COVID-19 risk to its highest category for travel to three countries.

The agency put Greenland, Italy and Mauritius on its Level 4: COVID-19 Very High list, meaning they each have case rates of more than 500 per 100,000 people.

The CDC advises Americans to avoid travel to all countries designated under this list of more than 80 countries. The list includes Britain, France, Germany, Austria, Greece, Ukraine, South Africa and Russia. Those who do travel to these countries should ensure they're fully vaccinated first.

The travel warning comes amid a surge in COVID-19 cases across Europe, fueled by the spread of the Omicron variant.

Britain announced Monday that it recorded its first death from the Omicron variant, which the CDC says appears to spread more easily than the original novel coronavirus. Britain raised its COVID-19 alert level to the second-highest for the first time since May.

The CDC implemented tighter travel guidelines earlier this month in response to the rise in cases across the globe, requiring foreign travelers to obtain a negative COVID-19 test within one day of traveling to the United States.