(CNN) — The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday placed three new destinations in its “high” risk category for Covid-19, including a North American travel behemoth.
The Level 3 “high” risk category is now the top rung in terms of risk level. Level 2 is considered “moderate” risk. Level 1 is “low” risk.
Level 4, previously the highest risk category, is now reserved only for special circumstances, such as extremely high case counts, emergence of a new variant of concern or health care infrastructure collapse. Under the new system, no destinations have been placed at Level 4 so far.
The “Level 3: Covid-19 High” category now applies to countries that have had more than 100 cases per 100,000 residents in the past 28 days.
The three places joining Level 3 this week are:
• Mexico
• New Caledonia
• United Arab Emirates
Mexico, a favorite destination for US tourists, and the UAE, the Middle East’s glitzy hot spot, were at Level 2 last week.
New Caledonia, renowned among scuba divers, was in the unknown category previously, meaning the CDC did not have enough data from the Pacific Ocean destination to assign a category.
There were almost 115 destinations at Level 3 on June 13. Level 3 locations account for almost half of the roughly 235 places monitored by the CDC.
Level 3
A classic cityscape view of Florence, Italy. The Southern European country remains at Level 3.
rh2010/Adobe Stock
Mexico and the UAE aren’t the only travel favorites in the “high” risk category. Many other popular travel destinations are also at Level 3.
Much of Europe has been stubbornly lodged there for months as the summer travel season has begun. As of June 13, the following popular European destinations were among those remaining at Level 3:
• France
• Germany
• Greece
• Ireland
• Italy
• The Netherlands
• Portugal
• Spain
• United Kingdom
It’s not just European favorites that find themselves at Level 3. Numerous notable travel destinations around the world are among those in the ‘high’ risk category, including the following:
• Brazil
• Canada
• Costa Rica
• Malaysia
• South Korea
• Thailand
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