U.S. State Department Issues 16 New Travel Advisories For October

Last Updated 3 years ago

Just yesterday, United States issued several more travel advisory updates. The updates to the travel advisories were made as the US endeavors to make sure that its citizens are well informed about issues around the world that may impact a traveler's health and safety, and they allow travelers to make informed decisions about whether to travel to a destination or stay home.

A total of 16 updates were published yesterday, which included countries now categorized as Level 2, Level 3 and Level 4 destinations – including some destinations that are extremely popular with American travelers. Here's a look at how the countries were classified in yesterday's update, plus a reminder of how the US reaches its decisions.

How The US Decides On Classification – Information For Travelers

The US uses four levels and colors for its travel advisory warnings:

– Level 1 – Exercise Normal Precautions (Blue)

– Level 2 – Exercise Increased Caution (Yellow)

– Level 3 – Reconsider Travel (Orange)

– Level 4 – Do Not Travel (Red)

Countries can also have a travel advisory level that is different to the travel advisory level for a specific region within the country, if there is a particular concern in that region.

According to the Department of State's website, a range of factors are used to determine the travel advisory level for each country around the world. These factors include crime, terrorist activity, civil unrest, health, natural disaster, serious weather concerns and current events. Information is taken from a number of sources, and situations are also assessed by embassies and consulates in a destination, before a final travel warning verdict is reached, with protecting US citizens in mind.

Given the current pandemic, the prevalence of Covid-19 in a country has a significant impact on the travel advisory warning. Different counties are also handed Travel Health Notices by the CDC, which can affect a country's warning level. Travel Health Notices also range from Level 1 to Level 4. The primary criteria for countries being handed Level 4 Travel Health Notices are if they report in excess of 500 positive cases of Covid-19 per 100,000 members of their population in the past 28 days, whilst for Level 3 the figure is between 200 and 500, and Level 2 is recording between 50 and 99 cases of Covid-19 in the past 28 days.

Travel Advisory Updates – Information For Travelers

Several countries received Level 4 updates yesterday. These countries are New Caledonia, Latvia, French West Indies, Croatia, Barbados, Austria and Armenia. Each of these updates lists Covid-19 as the reason why, with each country also receiving a Level 4 Travel Health Notice from the CDC due to their high levels of Covid-19.

There were also several updates for Level 3 countries, as well as a single Level 2 update. South Africa, Porte, Nepal, Morocco, Lesotho, Iceland, France and Argentina were Level 3, whilst Peru is now Level 2. Each of the Level 3 countries also carries a Level 3 Travel Health Notice. Whilst Covid-19 is the primary factor, other countries also have other reasons not to travel on their pages; South Africa's page warns of crime and civil unrest, whilst France and Morocco's pages warn of the risk of terrorism.

Despite countries receiving these warnings, travelers are still able to visit if they so wish. The US government will not prevent travelers from visiting any of these destinations, with the travel advisories only serving to make travelers aware of any potential issues they may face.

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This article originally appeared on TravelOffPath.com

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