WASHINGTON 鈥 The US State Department and Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention on Thursday lifted global advisories recommending US citizens avoid all international travel because of the coronavirus pandemic, and instead issued a raft of high-level warnings for individual countries.
鈥淲ith health and safety conditions improving in some countries and potentially deteriorating in others, the department is returning to our previous system of country-specific levels of travel advice,鈥 the State Department said in a statement lifting its 鈥淒o Not Travel鈥 advisory.
The CDC also dropped its global advisory recommending against all nonessential international travel due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but nearly all countries remain on its highest Level 3 advisory to avoid all non-essential travel.
A few countries, including Thailand, New Zealand and Fiji, were put on a low risk Level 1 advisory.
US airline stocks rose on the announcement.
The State Department issued updated country-travel specific alerts, including 鈥淟evel Four: Do Not Travel鈥 advisories for about 30 countries, including India, Russia, Bangladesh, Belize, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Egypt, El Salvador, Haiti, Iran, Kosovo, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Honduras, and Libya.
The State Department also issued numerous new 鈥淟evel 3: reconsider travel鈥 advisories, including for members of the European Union, the United Kingdom, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Liberia, Armenia, the Philippines, Laos and Australia.
The United States has barred most non-US citizens from many parts of the world from traveling to the United States, including from the EU and China. China has been on the State Department鈥檚 鈥淒o Not Travel鈥 advisory since June.
The State Department first issued the Global Level 4 鈥淒o Not Travel鈥 Health Advisory on March 19, while CDC imposed its highest 鈥淟evel 3鈥 on March 27.
The United States remains in talks with the EU in a bid to allow most Americans to resume travel to Europe. 鈥 Reuters
