U.S. CDC eases travel restrictions for Canada and several other countries

The U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has eased its travel recommendations for 61 countries, including Canada, which has been lowered to a “Level 3” rating from "Level 4."

For countries at level 3, the CDC says to "make sure you are fully vaccinated before traveling to these destinations." 

Additionally, it says that "unvaccinated travellers should avoid nonessential travel to these destinations."

Other countries to receive a lower rating include France, Japan, South Africa Mexico, Russia, Spain, Honduras, Indonesia, Jordan, Libya, Panama, Poland, Denmark and Malaysia.

In total, 61 countries had their CDC rating lowered.

The CDC has also revised its rating for the United States to "Level 3,” previously from the higher-threat “Level 4,” which discourages all travel.

While the COVID-19 health situation improves as vaccination rates increase, the CDC updated its international travel guidance on Monday (June 7) to outline new advice for vaccinated and unvaccinated travellers.

“As the COVID-19 situation around the world changes, CDC is monitoring COVID-19 risk in destinations around the world and making travel recommendations,” the CDC says.

The revised guidance seeks to "better differentiate countries with severe outbreak situations" from countries in which COVID-19 is "sustained, but controlled."

The CDC has also changed its criteria for the Level 4 advisory from 100 cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 to 500 cases per 100,000.

More countries are expected to receive lower ratings in the coming weeks and months.

An additional 50 countries and territories were also lowered to "Level 2" or "Level 1," a CDC spokeswoman told Reuters. 

Countries with the lowest COVID-19 risks now include Singapore, Israel, South Korea, Iceland, Belize and Albania.

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