Do not travel to Spain, Portugal, Cyprus, Cuba, Kyrgyzstan and reconsider Israel

Israel sets a new alarming trend in closing for vaccinated travelers
Israel sets a new alarming trend
Avatar of Juergen T Steinmetz

The travel and tourism industry on both sides of the Atlantic had struggling to reopen travel. EU countries opened, while the US remained closed for foreign travelers. Now the U.S. tells its citizens to not travel to some European country and Israel.

  1. CDC, the United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the US State Department on Monday both warned against travel to Spain, Portugal, Cyprus and Kyrgyzstan because of a rising number of COVID-19 cases in those countries.
  2. At the same time Israel is now categorized category 3 on the US Travel Advisory level, the second highest
  3. The Delta variant is spreading out of control in many parts of the world, and warning Americans to travel overseas is not warning the same travelers to continue travel domestically

The CDC raised its travel advisory to “Level Four: Very High” for those countries telling Americans they should avoid travel there, while the State Department issued “Do Not Travel” advisories.

Spain reopened its borders to U.S. tourists in June and has been a popular destination for Americans since then.

TAP Air Portugal returns to San Francisco and Chicago
TAP Air Portugal returns to San Francisco and Chicago – may be too early

The CDC on Monday also raised its rating to “Level Four” for Cuba, while the State Department already had Cuba at the highest “Do Not Travel” rating.

The CDC also raised concerns about the rising number of COVID-19 cases in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza, lifting its travel health notice by two levels to “Level 3: High,” while the State Department rated Israel at “Level 3: Reconsider Travel.”

Irael always had been seen as fully vaccinated and low risk

In June, the CDC had lowered its travel advisory rating for Israel to “Level 1: Low.”

Scientists in Israel now say Pfizer is less than 40% effective to fully protect vaccinated people from getting the virus. They however say being vaccinated will most likely avoid getting hospitalized or worse.

The CDC and the State Department also raised Armenia to “Level 3.”

The “Level 3” rating says unvaccinated travelers should avoid nonessential travel to that country and is one level below the CDC’s most severe travel rating.

In June, the CDC eased travel recommendations for more than 110 countries and territories as it revised its methods for travel warnings based on COVID-19 risks.

About the author

Avatar of Juergen T Steinmetz

Juergen T Steinmetz

Juergen Thomas Steinmetz has continuously worked in the travel and tourism industry since he was a teenager in Germany (1977).
He founded eTurboNews in 1999 as the first online newsletter for the global travel tourism industry.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x
Share to...