CDC adds 22 countries to highest travel risk list

Jan. 18 (UPI) -- The national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention added 22 countries on Tuesday, to its COVID-19 list of destinations to avoid traveling to.

The CDC divides countries into four levels when determining travel advisories related to COVID-19.

Level 4 and its "very high" rating comes with the mandate to avoid travel and indicates destinations with more than 500 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents registered in the past 28 days.

Argentina and Australia were among those added to the level Tuesday despite maintaining some of the tightest restrictions on their borders amid the pandemic.

Other additions to Level 4 on Tuesday included Albania, the Bahamas, Bahrain, Bermuda, Bolivia, the British Virgin Islands, Cape Verde, Egypt, Grenada, Guyana, Israel, Panama, Qatar, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Sao Tome and Principe, Sint Maarten, Suriname, the Turks and Caicos Islands and Uruguay.

Only two countries were shifted and given a "very high" rating last week, reports CNN.

Overall, there are 41 destinations on the CDC's highest level, including Canada, France and the United Kingdom.

"If you must travel to these destinations, make sure you are fully vaccinated before travel," states the CDC website.

Level three comes with a "high" risk and a warning to ensure you are fully vaccinated before traveling to the destinations. Unvaccinated people should avoid non-essential travel to these destinations, says the CDC.

Chile, Colombia and Brazil are among the countries with a "high" risk rating.

There are 17 countries with a "moderate" risk, the lowest number of any of the four CDC levels.

A total of 19 countries had "low" risk ratings as of Tuesday afternoon, including Taiwan and Japan.

Travelers on international flights to the United States continue to be required to show a negative COVID-19 test result or documentation of recovery from COVID-19 before boarding a flight.