BREAKING Apr 19, 2021,04:16pm EDT

State Department Plans ‘Do Not Travel’ Advisories For 80% Of Countries Due To Covid

Andrew SolenderForbes Staff
Business
I write about politics, Congress and the Biden Administration.

TOPLINE The State Department on Monday announced plans to issue new, more stringent travel advisories for many countries and urge U.S. citizens not to travel abroad, a decision it says is meant to better reflect public health guidelines.

KEY FACTS

In a statement, the State Department said coronavirus “continues to pose unprecedented risks to travelers” and that, due to those risks, it urges U.S. citizens to “reconsider travel abroad.”

The State Department also said it will also be updating travel advisories this week to “better reflect the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) science based Travel Health Notices,” which recommend against travel to most countries.

Currently the state department has “Level 3” travel advisories in place for most countries, which urge U.S. citizens to “reconsider travel,” though many of those advisories date back as far as August of last year.

Now, roughly 80% of countries will receive a “Level 4,” or “Do Not Travel,” advisory the State Department said, reiterating that the decision is meant to keep up with the CDC’s “existing epidemiological assessments.”

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