Through its latest update of Coronavirus-affected countries, the US Department of State has advised that everyone refrains from travelling to four European Union/Schengen Area countries as their epidemiological situation has gotten worse.
Updating the list of countries to which Americans are highly advised to refrain from travelling, the Department of State issued a “Level Four: Do Not Travel” advice for the four countries listed below:
- France
- Portugal
- Liechtenstein
- Andorra
- Cyprus
“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a Level 4 Travel Health Notice for France, indicating a very high level of COVID-19 in the country. There are restrictions in place affecting US citizen entry into France,” the US Health Agency advice reads. The same advice was issued for Portugal, Andorra, Cyprus, and Liechtenstein.
The travel advisories for these four EU/Schengen Area countries were issued yesterday, on December 6, due to their increased infection rates. Moreover, some of these countries have also identified Omicron variant infection cases, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
The data from the World Health Organization (WHO) shows that France has registered 294,080 new COVID-19 infection cases in the last seven days. During the same period, Portugal reported 24,080 new cases, Cyprus reported 3,558 new cases, Andorra reported 1,298 new cases, and Liechtenstein reported 155 new cases.
As for the Omicron cases, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has revealed that as of December 6, France has identified 25 and Portugal has identified 34 SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant of concern cases. Regarding Liechtenstein, Andorra, and Cyprus, ECDC has revealed that there isn’t any available data yet.
The Level Four categorisation, which now applies to all the five above-mentioned countries, is the highest advisory level. Therefore, all Americans, especially those who haven’t recovered as well as those who haven’t been vaccinated against the virus, should avoid visiting countries that fall under this list.
Moreover, in order to lower the risk of infection with the COVID-19 and the newly detected Omicron variant, the US Centers for Disease Prevention and Control have recommended that all US nationals who must take an essential-purpose trip to one of the EU/Schengen Area Coronavirus-affected countries should be fully vaccinated with one of the vaccines authorised by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Except for the five countries mentioned above, the travel advisory also applies to Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Switzerland.
>> New COVID-19 Travel Restrictions Imposed by EU/Schengen Countries Throughout the Weekend Explained
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