The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is advising all U.S. travelers to avoid Italy, Greenland and Mauritius, regardless of vaccination status.
The agency on Monday boosted the three countries to its level 4 “very high” coronavirus advisory list, saying travelers should avoid these destinations or, if they “must” travel, make sure they are fully vaccinated beforehand.
There are 84 destinations labeled as having “very high” COVID risk as of this week, including other popular European countries like France, Germany and the United Kingdom. The CDC looks at a number of factors to determine a country’s risk level, including case counts and testing data.
The State Department concurrently added Italy and Mauritius to its own level 4 travel advisory on Monday, warning “do not travel” to these destinations.
► European travel:Italy imposes strict COVID rules for unvaccinated
► Which EU countries are open to tourists?:A breakdown of EU travel restrictions by country
Italy is experiencing another COVID-19 wave, with more than 112,000 cases reported the week of Dec. 6, a 13% increase from the week prior, according to the World Health Organization.
The country has tightened COVID restrictions in recent weeks, banning travel from eight African countries to curb the spread of omicron and excluding unvaccinated people who have not recovered from the virus from indoor restaurants, theaters and museums.
Other changes to the CDC’s travel health notices include:
- Malaysia dropped from level 4 to level 3.
- Tanzania dropped from level 4 to “level unknown.”
- Jamaica, Sint Maarten, The Republic of Congo and the Philippines dropped from level 3 to level 2.
- Equatorial Guinea dropped from level 2 to level 1.
Follow USA TODAY reporter Bailey Schulz on Twitter: @bailey_schulz.
