(CNN) — The US Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention moved three high-profile locations to its highest-risk Stage 4 class for journey on Monday.
Hong Kong and New Zealand have spent a lot of the pandemic in close to isolation with comparatively few infections and had been lauded as Covid success tales. Nonetheless, the Omicron variant has induced huge spikes in instances in each locations.
New Zealand has seen a steep rise in Covid instances lately. Nonetheless, as of early March, the nation had logged solely 65 deaths over the course of the pandemic.
Adobe Inventory
The CDC locations a vacation spot at “Stage 4: Covid-19 Very Excessive” threat when greater than 500 instances per 100,000 residents are registered previously 28 days.
To recap, the locations added to Stage 4 on March 7 are:
• Hong Kong
• New Zealand
• Thailand
All three locations have been beforehand listed at Stage 3, thought of “excessive” threat.
International case numbers have been declining since peaking in late January, however consultants warning that the pandemic shouldn’t be over.
CDC: Keep away from Stage 4 locations
London is a global tourism favourite and the biggest metropolis in the UK, which has been at Stage 4 since final summer time.
Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Pictures
There are about 135 locations at the moment at Stage 4. Whereas the variety of locations within the “very excessive” threat class has dipped barely since topping round 140 in February, there are nonetheless extra locations within the Stage 4 class than in all the opposite classes mixed.
The CDC advises avoiding journey to Stage 4 international locations. CDC thresholds for journey well being notices are based mostly totally on the variety of Covid-19 instances in a vacation spot.
Different vacationer favorites stalled on Stage 4 embrace Canada, Egypt, France, Greece, Peru and Singapore. The UK has been there since July 2021.
Modifications at Stage 3
Mexico, with Bahia Principe seashore in Tulum pictured right here, moved down from Stage 4 to Stage 3 on Monday.
Rodrigo Arangua/AFP by way of Getty Pictures
Vacationers searching for some information that is trending in a great path will discover it on this stage.
The Stage 3 “excessive” threat class — which applies to locations which have had between 100 and 500 instances per 100,000 residents previously 28 days — noticed six additions from varied spots across the globe on Monday. They have been:
• Anguilla
• Cape Verde
• Fiji
• Mexico
• Philippines
• United Arab Emirates
Ranges 2, 1 and unknown
On Monday, there was excellent news for people who find themselves dreaming of a visit to Africa.
Locations carrying the “Stage 2: Covid-19 Reasonable” designation have seen 50 to 99 Covid-19 instances per 100,000 residents previously 28 days. 9 locations representing all sections of the continent moved to Stage 2 on March 7:
• Angola
• Djibouti
• Equatorial Guinea
• Ethiopia
• The Gambia
• Mauritania
• Mozambique
• Namibia
• Senegal
Final week, all of those locations have been at Stage 3.
Africa continued to be a shiny spot with the Stage 1 class as effectively, together with the favored safari and cultural favourite Kenya.
To be in “Stage 1: Covid-19 Low,” a vacation spot should have fewer than 50 new instances per 100,000 residents over the previous 28 days. Eight locations moved to Stage 1 on Monday:
• Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast)
• Kenya
• Lesotho
• Niger
• Rwanda
• Republic of Congo
• Togo
• Uganda
The one locations now listed at Stage 1 outdoors of Africa are China and Taiwan.
Lastly, there are locations for which the CDC has an “unknown” threat due to a lack of understanding. Often, however not at all times, these are small, distant locations or locations with ongoing warfare or unrest. The CDC made no new additions to the class on Monday.
Tanzania, Cambodia and Macau are among the many more-visited places at the moment listed within the unknown class. The CDC advises towards journey to those locations exactly as a result of the dangers are unknown.
A medical skilled weighs in on threat ranges
Transmission charges are “one guidepost” for vacationers’ private threat calculations, in accordance with CNN Medical Analyst Dr. Leana Wen.
“We’re getting into a part within the pandemic the place folks must make their very own selections based mostly on their medical circumstances in addition to their threat tolerance in relation to contracting Covid-19,” Wen mentioned in mid-February.
“It’s best to interpret Stage 4 to imply this can be a place with plenty of group transmission of Covid-19. So in case you go, there’s a greater probability that you possibly can contract the coronavirus,” mentioned Wen, who’s an emergency doctor and professor of well being coverage and administration on the George Washington College Milken Institute Faculty of Public Well being.
Some folks will determine the danger is just too excessive for them, Wen mentioned. “Different folks will say, ‘As a result of I’m vaccinated and boosted, I’m prepared to tackle that threat.’
“So this actually must be a private choice that folks weigh understanding that proper now the CDC is classifying the completely different ranges based mostly on group transmission charges, and mainly solely that,” Wen mentioned. “They don’t seem to be bearing in mind particular person circumstances.”
Prime picture: An aerial view reveals buildings from the Mid-Ranges space of Hong Kong on Might 25, 2021. (Peter Parks/AFP by way of Getty Pictures)