Reuters advises US CDC to prevent Americans from traveling to Canada

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended a trip to Canada on Monday because of a growing number of COVID-19 cases.

The CDC upgraded its travel recommendation to “Four Level: Very High” for Canada, telling Americans to travel to a northern neighborhood. The CDC currently lists about 80 destinations worldwide at the Fourth Level. The island of Curaçao was also promoted to Level Four on Monday.

In November, the United States removed restrictions on its land borders with Canada and Mexico for fully vaccinated foreigners, ending the historic restrictions on passengers that were not essential to tackling the COVID-19 pandemic from March 2020.

Canada remains one of the top foreign destinations for Americans.

The Canadian government did not immediately comment on Monday.

Last month, the Canadian government begged residents not to leave the country for non-essential trips.

Canada advised residents in March 2020 not to travel abroad for non-essential reasons such as tourism. He withdrew the note in October – before the first Omicron cases were reported – citing the success of vaccination campaigns.

The CDC also on Monday dropped recommendations for travel from Level 4 to Level 3: High in Armenia, Belarus, Lesotho and Zimbabwe. Singapore is also rated “Level 3” after being previously listed as unknown.

The CDC says Americans need to be fully vaccinated before traveling to Level 3 destinations.

COVID-19 hospitalizations in the U.S. reached a high of 132,646, according to a Reuters count on Monday, surpassing the 132,051 record set in January last year amid a surge in the contagious Omicron variant.