The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tacked on 16 more countries, including Greece, Ireland and the US Virgin Islands, to its growing list of places Americans should not travel because of a “very high” COVID-19 risk.
The destinations were added to the agency’s highest warning Level 4 list on Monday.
The other countries added to the advisory include: Andorra, Curaçao, Gibraltar, Guadeloupe, Iran, Isle of Man, Kazakhstan, Lesotho, Libya, Malta, Martinique, Saint Barthelemy and Saint Martin.
Americans are being urged to avoid travel to those destinations, or be fully vaccinated if it is essential.
Destinations are added to the list if they have more than 500 cases per 100,000 residents in the last 28 days, according to the CDC.
Non-citizens have been unable to enter the US from some of the additional 16 destinations – including Ireland and Greece – since March 2020 when travel bans were first put in place.
About 90 countries are currently included on the CDC’s list due to surging COVID-19 cases.
The White House said last week there were no plans to lift travel restrictions for non-citizens amid rising cases due to the Delta variant.
“We will maintain existing travel restrictions at this point for a few reasons. The more transmissible Delta variant is spreading both here and around the world,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said at her July 26 press briefing.
“Driven by the Delta variant, cases are rising here at home, particularly among those who are unvaccinated, and appear likely to continue in the weeks ahead.”
The restrictions are being extended even as many countries relax their own rules to allow US citizens to visit following widespread vaccination.
With Post wires