The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention keeps adding to its Level 4 “very high” risk warning list for American travelers to include as many as 140 destinations in the category.

On Monday, the agency updated the list with the addition of Vietnam, as the country saw its COVID cases worsen over the last week. Vietnam was previously listed in the Level 3 “high” risk category.

A Level 4 nation has more than 500 COVID cases per 100,000 residents reported in the past 28 days.

Other locations listed in the Level 4 category include most of Europe, the Caribbean, Mexico and Canada. In early January, the Level 4 category had only 80 destinations listed on it, according to CNN.

Last week, the CDC added Malaysia, Bhutan, Brunei and Iran to the “very high” risk list, despite COVID cases declining in many parts of the world.

The CDC warns against traveling to a Level 4 nation even if a person is fully vaccinated, saying that visitors would “still be at risk for getting and spreading COVID-19.”

Also on Monday, three updates were made to the CDC’s Level 3 “high” risk category with the additions of Comoros, Hong Kong and São Tomé and Príncipe.

A Level 3 destination is determined as having between 100 and 500 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents in the past 28 days.

Hong Kong saw its COVID cases worsen in the last week, moving up from Level 1 “low” risk, while Comoros and São Tomé and Príncipe saw improvements in their virus situations, moving down from Level 4.

Cruise travel is also listed in the Level 3 “high” risk category.

A total of 10 locations made moves to the Level 2 “moderate” risk category on Monday, including nine in Africa – Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Lesotho, Liberia, Mali, Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Togo and Uganda. Montserrat – a British territory in the Caribbean - also moved to Level 2.

Level 2 nations are designated as having between 50 and 99 cases of the virus per 100,000 residents in the past 28 days.

One update was made to the CDC’s Level 1 “low” risk category with the addition of Nigeria, which was previously listed as Level 2 “moderate” risk.

Level 1 nations have fewer than 50 new COVID cases per 100,000 residents reported over the past 28 days.

Five nations are listed in the Level 1 category, including China, Benin, Sierra Leone and Taiwan.

No new additions were made to the CDC’s “unknown” category, which includes locations that have unreliable information about the risk of their COVID situation.

Across Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia, tourist takings have plummeted as Chinese travellers find themselves subject to a host of travel restrictions
Across Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia, tourist takings have plummeted as Chinese travellers find themselves subject to a host of travel restrictions AFP / Mladen ANTONOV
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