Justin Bullock, FISM News
On Tuesday, the United States State Department eased travel advisories on a number of foreign countries with respect to the risk of COVID-19 infection. This announcement comes as the US begins transitioning back to pre-pandemic norms and habits of life. The State Department’s announcement is in conjunction with the recent reduction of restrictions regarding the pandemic from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as well as the perpetually increasing number of Americans who have received the COVID-19 vaccine.
Americans are anxious to be able to travel around the country and internationally after being cooped up at home for the past year. While the State Department’s announcement has made it easier for Americans to travel on our end, many international countries, especially those in Europe still retain strict restrictions on who can travel into their country. Many foreign countries also require a vaccine passport in order to travel to and from their country. These vaccine passports are currently the subject of legislation seeking to ban their requirement and usage in the US.
The State Department has a four-level categorization for travel advisories composed of: 1. Exercise Normal Precautions, 2. Exercise Increased Caution, 3. Reconsider Travel, and 4. Do Not Travel. Of the countries updated by the State Department on Tuesday, most of them were moved from a level 3 categorization to a level 2. A full list of the advisories can be found here. When a country is level 3 or 4, it is strongly recommended that Americans not travel there, and in many cases travel to countries categorized at level 4 is prohibited from the US.