CDC Adds Malta, Moldova, Sweden to Highest-Risk COVID Destinations

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have added Malta, Moldova and Sweden to the highest-risk destinations for travel due to COVID-19, CNN reported Wednesday (Dec. 29).

The CDC puts a destination at Level 4 when more than 500 cases per 100,000 residents have been registered in the last 28 days.

Sweden used to be a Level 3 destination, which was considered “high risk” — but now, it’s among other Nordic nations like Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Norway as Level 4.

Sweden now requires a negative COVID-19 test for people to visit, whether they are vaccinated or not.

Moldova used to be “unknown” as a category, as the CDC previously did not have enough data to make an assessment. However, both Moldova and Malta, which was previously a Level 3, were added to the highest risk category.

The CDC did not move any destinations in Europe to a lower category in the last week. However, there are numerous other countries at the Level 4, including France, Germany, Greece, Ireland and Italy, among others.

Earlier this week, PYMNTS reported that the omicron variant’s surge has rippled through the world with a number of issues over the holidays, with travel disruptions chief among them. The omicron variant has been found to be more contagious than the others.

See also: COVID Resurgences, Weather Cause Travel Delays Over Holiday Weekend

PYMNTS noted that with U.S. cases rising, infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci is now recommending a vaccine mandate for domestic air travel. The travel issues, complicated further by airline staffing issues due to illnesses, saw many people stranded in airport queues.

With that, there were also phone issues as irritated and inconvenienced customers called airlines to try and fix their plans.

Read more: Fauci: US Should ‘Seriously’ Weigh Vaccine Edict for National Air Travel

PYMNTS wrote earlier this week that the average number of cases in the U.S. has risen 55%, and was around 205,000 per week.

While Fauci said it would be reasonable to consider a mandate for vaccines to fly domestically, President Joe Biden didn’t say either way whether he’d endorse the plan.

Biden did add that he was looking at cutting quarantine times, which the CDC did on Monday, now recommending a five-day isolation period in some cases.