CDC advises Americans against traveling to 4 Asian nations due to COVID-19

Feb. 22 (UPI) -- The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention added four Asian nations to its list of countries to avoid traveling to due to high levels of COVID-19 spread.

The U.S. health body added Bhutan, Brunei, Iran and Malaysia to the Level 4: COVID-19 Very High list, which now consists of some 140 nations.

According to the CDC, the highest level on its five-level system indicates the nation in question has more than 500 new infections per 100,000 people over the past 28 days.

For Level 4 listed nations, the CDC recommends avoiding travel to these destinations.

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

All four nations were previously on Level 3: High, meaning a prevalence of 100 to 500 cases per 100,000 population over the same time frame.

The CDC also designated Namibia, New Zealand and Timor-Leste as Level 3: COVID-19 High on Tuesday and Kenya and Nigeria as Level 2: COVID-19 Moderate.

In its five-level system, Level 4 has by far the most nations with Level 2: COVID-19 Moderate having the fewest at four countries followed Level 1: COVID-19 Low that has six.

There are also 40 nations under Level Unknown, indicating the prevalence of COVID-19 in those nations, such as Afghanistan and North Korea, is not currently known and as such Americans should avoid travel to these destinations as well.