New CDC Avoid Travel Warning For Italy, 2 Other Destinations Due To Covid-19 Coronavirus – Forbes

As Covid-19 cases continue to rise in Italy, people are seen here in Rome wearing face masks. (Photo ... [+] by Riccardo De Luca/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Greenland is not that green during this time of the year. And its certainly not green on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)Covid-19 Travel Recommendations map. In fact, Greenland is now in the red, the dark red there. Thats because the CDC has just leveled up Greenland, Italy, and Mauritius when it comes to Covid-19 risk. On Monday, these three destinations all went from Level 3, which is marked in red on the map, to Level 4, which is marked in dark red.

So you may want to postpone your plans to hand-deliver that package to Santas mailbox in Nuuk, Greenland, take in Galileos middle finger in Florence, Italy, or take Santa underwater scootering in Mauritius. Level 4 means that the Covid-19 risk in those destinations is currently very high and that you should avoid all non-essential travel to such places, whether or not youve been fully vaccinated.

Now you may argue whether delivering pickles in person to Santa Claus is considered non-essential travel. Regardless, the Covid-19 situations for Greenland, Italy, and Mauritius have been getting worse. For example, the number of new reported Covid-19 cases per day has been steadily rising in Italy since mid-October. Its gone from 2,729 on October 15 to 19,212 on December 12, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.

In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, Italy has become a bit of a green land itself. In August, Italy instituted a green pass system to track who has either been vaccinated against or recovered from Covid-19. In October, Italy made such green passes mandatory for workplaces. And December 6 brought the so-called super green pass, a green pass requirement for those wanting to enter theaters, gyms, clubs, stadiums, indoor bars and restaurants, and similar venues.

With close to 75% of its population fully vaccinated, Italy does have a higher vaccination coverage than the U.S., which so far has fully vaccinated 60.9% of its population. But beating the U.S. in vaccination coverage is like leading the Hulk in a pogo stick race. Neither 75% nor 60.9% are at the herd immunity thresholds necessary to really interrupt transmission of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

Recognizing that vaccination does not offer 100% protection like a full-body concrete condom, Italian authorities have been layering on other Covid-19 precautions as well. Many cities in Italy, such as Milan, Bologna, Padova, and Bergamo, now have face mask requirements for the public both indoors and outdoors. Social distancing measures have been in place in many places too, including on public transit.

Social distancing may be a bit easier in Greenland, which has only about 56,000 residents and by the way is not for sale. Since the beginning of the pandemic, Greenland has had 1,831 confirmed cases of Covid-19 with no deaths, based on data from the World Health Organization (WHO). Nevertheless, over the past month Greenland has been experiencing record highs in the number of Covid-19 cases, which prompted the shift from Level 3 to Level 4.

Greenland had very few reported Covid-19 cases until early July 2021. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty ... [+] Images)

As I have covered previously for Forbes, the CDC has four risk levels for Covid-19. These CDC levels are like golf scores and the number of times your cat punches you in the groin. The higher the number, the worse things are.

Level 4 is the worst, followed by Level 3, which corresponds to a high Covid-19 risk. For travel to Level 3 destinations, the CDC recommends that you first get fully vaccinated. If you are not yet vaccinated, then you should really avoid all nonessential travel to Level 3 destinations. A destination levels up from 3 to 4 when the number of reported Covid-19 cases per 100,000 residents over the past 28 days crosses the 500 threshold. A destination goes from Level 2 (moderate risk) to Level 3 when this number surpasses 100 and from Level 1 (low risk) to Level 2 when it goes over 50. Destinations at Level 2 appear in orange and those at Level 1 appear in yellow on the map.

Not all the CDC Covid-19 Travel Recommendations news on Monday was bad news. Malaysia moved down to Level 3 from Level 4 for the first time since June 2021. And three destination, Jamaica, the Philippines, and the Republic of Congo, are the new orange, going from Level 3 to Level 2.

Of course, the CDC Covid-19 Travel Recommendation lists can be like the casts of the reality TV shows The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, changing each and every week. The colder and drier weather in the Northern Hemisphere and spread of the Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 could soon take more destinations to whole another level. This may not be the best time to travel internationally unless you have your own blimp and island. There are other things that you can do for fun over this Holiday Season. And you could always mail Santa a package.

Continued here:

New CDC Avoid Travel Warning For Italy, 2 Other Destinations Due To Covid-19 Coronavirus - Forbes