USA raises travel warning levels for Switzerland, Canada and Germany

The United States has increased travel warnings for Canada, Germany and Switzerland due to Covid-19 infection rates in these countries.

Canada and Germany have been moved to Level 3 by the US State Department and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where potential travelers are being asked to “reconsider travel” due to “high levels of Covid-19”.

The move comes just three weeks after Canada reopened its borders to US visitors to ease measures that had restricted non-essential travel between the two neighbors since March 2020.

The CDC raised its advice for Switzerland to Level 4, the highest possible level. The agency has asked Americans not to travel to the European country due to the “extremely high level” of Covid-19 there.

Earlier on Monday, all European Union member states agreed to recommend that every country in the bloc re-impose restrictions on travelers from the United States amid fears of rising infection and hospitalization rates in the country.

Over the past week, Germany has averaged about 9,167 new cases per day, while Canada has 3,039 a day, and Switzerland has 2,572, according to the Financial Times coronavirus tracker. Adjusted for population, Switzerland recorded an average of 30 new cases per 100,000 inhabitants per day last week, ahead of Germany (11) and Canada (8).

The number of new infections in the United States has averaged about 154,350 new infections per day over the past week, or an average of 47 per 100,000 people per day.

The CDC has also issued Level 4 guidelines for Estonia, North Macedonia, Azerbaijan, and Saint Lucia. Earlier this month, France, Israel, Thailand and Iceland were added to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Tier 4 list.