As more and more people around the world get vaccinated against the coronavirus, the CDC is updating their travel advice on more countries. The latest update this week affects 120 countries.
The update moves 33 countries into the lowest risk category, this includes Iceland, Israel, and Singapore. The CDC uses a four-level system.
The advice also tries to better define regions and countries with “severe outbreak situations” and those where COVID-19 infection rates are “sustained, but controlled,” the CDC states.
The CDC recommends every traveler be fully vaccinated. Their advice mostly concerns unvaccinated people and represents the number of COVID-19 cases in a given country.
America’s neighbors, Canada and Mexico, are both listed as “Level 3,” or "high level of COVID-19, according to the CDC, with between 100 to 500 cases per 100,000 residents. The CDC recommends against nonessential travel to those countries, especially for those who are not fully vaccinated.
There are reports Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s administration is considering beginning a phased reopening of the border between the U.S. and Canada later in June. The U.S. has travel restrictions in place along the Canadian border until June 21, although they have been extended before and it is not clear if they will be extended again.
Canada had previously said they would lift coronavirus restrictions once the country reached 75% of the population who had at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Politico is reportingsome mayors in towns near the U.S. border have heard Canadian officials discussing lifting restrictions by June 21.
There is currently a 14-day isolation period for travelers coming into Canada, even if they are fully vaccinated.