The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a travel warning to Americans on Monday, citing COVID-19 concerns in France, Jordan, Portugal, and Tanzania as reported by Reuters.
Travel alert
The CDC has upgraded 83 destinations to “Level 4: Very High” and added Andorra, Cyprus, and Liechtenstein to the highest travel alert level on Monday.
In reaction to the emerging Omicron variant of the coronavirus, France announced Monday that it will restrict nightclubs ahead of Christmas and strengthen social distancing measures, but that no additional lockdowns or curfews were required.
Prime Minister Jean Castex warned that a fifth wave of the pandemic was on the way, but that the situation was better than in past outbreaks since 52 million people had been vaccinated – about 90% of those eligible.
International travelling
International flight travellers travelling in the United States must receive a negative COVID-19 test within one day of travel, according to new guidelines enacted by the US on Monday.
Previously, foreign flight travellers who had been vaccinated may produce a negative test result acquired within three days of their departure date.
According to Reuters, some airline officials said there is a three-day grace period to let certain passengers who took tests outside of the one-day window return to the United States.
“CDC is exercising some enforcement discretion while this rule is put in place,” a spokesman for the CDC said.
Restrictions
Due to concerns about the spread of the Omicron variant, the White House barred nearly all foreign nationals from eight southern African countries from entering the United States as of Nov. 29. However, the travel restrictions have not been extended to other countries where the new variant has been discovered.
France said on Monday that it has found 25 positive cases of the Omicron variant.
The African travel restrictions are “being assessed and discussed on a daily basis,” according to White House spokesperson Jen Psaki.
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Source: Reuters
