CDC advises against travel to Mexico, Brazil, Singapore

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Monday issued travel advisories for a dozen countries, including Mexico, Brazil and Singapore, citing high rates of COVID-19 infections.

The countries were raised to the CDC’s highest COVID-19 warning, “Level 4: Very High.” 

The State Department also raised the risk of general travel to Mexico, Singapore, Chile, Peru and several other countries to “Level 4: Do Not Travel.”

The omicron variant has caused a worldwide surge in cases, and the CDC now lists more than 60 countries as places to avoid due to COVID-19.

In the advisory, the CDC states, “If you must travel to” a Level 4 country, “make sure you are vaccinated and up to date with your COVID-19 vaccines before travel.”

The CDC considers people ages 12 and older to be “up to date” with their COVID-19 vaccine when they have received the primary course of two mRNA vaccines, or a single dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, and a single booster dose of an mRNA vaccine five months after the original primary vaccination.

The warnings come as omicron cases continue to spread worldwide and as the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics has now reported 119 COVID-19 infections in participants in the last several days.

“You’re like just so stressed about making sure you’re as safe as you can be,” American luger Chris Mazdzer said ahead of the Games, adding, “Yet at the same time, there’s no way to be 100 percent safe.

Once at the Games, organizers say that participants will be in a “closed loop,” meaning they will be isolated from the general public. Participants’ hotels are surrounded by temporary walls, and they will be transported directly to Olympic venues in official vehicles.