On 14th February, the United States Centers for Disease Control & Prevention urged American nationals to avoid travel to six territories and nations, including Azerbaijan, Belarus, and South Korea, amid the rapidly spreading Coronavirus. In addition, the CDC added French Polynesia, Miquelon, Comoros, and Saint Pierre to “Level 4: Very High,” the list of high-risk regions.

The CDC urged the US residents to avoid travel to 6 nations and territories, including Belarus, South Korea, and Azerbaijan, amid the widespread Coronavirus. The agency also added Saint Pierre, Comoros, Miquelon, and French Polynesia to “Level 4: Very High,” the list of high-risk pic.twitter.com/fu3hFnJwot

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The United States Department of State also raised its travel recommendation rating for countries such as Azerbaijan, South Korea, and Indonesia to “Level Four: Do Not Travel.” Overall, the federal agency listed around one hundred and forty nations and territories at the list of highest risk level, including Canada and all European countries and around all of Latin America, with Coronavirus pandemic levels amid the Omicron variant falling but still high in several countries.

The CDC Level One to Level Three Countries

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lists fifty nations or territories as “Level 3: High,” advised avoiding non-essential travel by unvaccinated American nationals. Only eleven destinations, including countries like Pakistan, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Taiwan, and China, fall under Level Two: Moderate or Level One: Low. Furthermore, the health agency lists around forty places as unknown and urges not to travel to those unless inoculated.

Moreover, some industry officials said that they believe the travel recommendations of the CDC are a factor in the deprived air travel demand internationally. At the start of February, major airlines, travel groups, and businesses urged federal officials to end Coronavirus pre-departure testing requirements for inoculated global travelers moving to the U.S.

Washington D.C., Maryland Join Other States in Easing COVID-related Restrictions

On Tuesday, the mayor of Washington D.C., Muriel Bowser, said that the state would no longer need residents to show proof of Coronavirus vaccination certificates to enter several businesses starting on Tuesday. After his decision, he joined other local leaders dialing back COVID-19-related restrictions as the highly contagious Omicron variant wave declined.

On Monday, Bowser also announced that from 1st March, the city would no longer make face masks mandatory in several indoor settings, including houses of worship, gyms, restaurants, and bars. However, mandatory facemasks will still require in libraries, schools, healthcare facilities, nursing homes, and public transport, among other settings. Further, the mayor added that the dramatic drop in Coronavirus cases and hospitalizations in recent days prompted the decision to relax some of the emergency precautionary measures initiated in December.

Last week, Massachusetts and New York governors announced that they would end some specific face mask mandates in their states, following similar measures by Oregon, Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware, and California. However, Joe Biden, the United States President, expressed that dropping face mask requirements altogether may be too early even though he suggested that at the chance of relaxing those requirements for kids, more received vaccination shots.

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