US State Department reassesses how COVID-19 considerations factor into Travel Advisories

Given the increases in international travel, the availability of effective COVID-19 mitigation measures, and recently announced changes to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) COVID-19 Travel Health Notice (THN) process, the U.S. Department of State has reassessed how COVID-19 considerations factor into our Travel Advisory levels for U.S. citizens.

Starting this week, the State Department Travel Advisory levels will no longer automatically correlate with the CDC COVID-19 THN level.  However, if the CDC raises a country’s COVID-19 THN to a Level 4, the State Department’s Travel Advisory for that country will also be raised to a Level 4: Do Not Travel due to COVID-19.

The Department of State has no greater responsibility than the safety and security of U.S. citizens overseas.  We are committed to providing U.S. citizens with up-to-date and timely information, so they are informed as they make international travel plans and when they are abroad.

Although conditions have recently improved, the COVID-19 pandemic is not over.  We continue to advise travelers to consider COVID-19 conditions and restrictions at their destinations when considering international travel.  To see the latest State Department Travel Advisories for any country in the world, visit travel.state.gov.  We continue to monitor conditions closely and will adjust the Travel Advisories and U.S. Embassy COVID-19 pages as needed to keep U.S. citizens informed.  The U.S. Government remains committed to leading efforts with partners globally to end this acute phase of the pandemic.