US advises its citizens to avoid travelling to India due to Covid spike

Washington, April 20

The US has advised its citizens to avoid travelling to India, even if they are fully vaccinated as there is a 'very high level' of Covid in the country.

The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Monday released travel recommendations by destination. It uses science-based Travel Health Notices to alert travellers to health threats around the world and advises on how to protect themselves.

The CDC has a four-level system for Covid and in that India is placed in 'Level 4: Very high level of Covid'.

The department noted, "The Covid pandemic continues to pose unprecedented risks to travellers."

The CDC has urged Americans to avoid all travel to India.

“Travellers should avoid all travel to India. Because of the current situation in India even fully vaccinated travellers may be at risk for getting and spreading Covid variants and should avoid all travel to India,” the CDC said in a statement.

"Because of the current situation in India even fully vaccinated travellers may be at risk for getting and spreading Covid variants and should avoid all travel to India.

"If you must travel to India, get fully vaccinated before travel. All travellers should wear a mask, stay six feet from others, avoid crowds, and wash their hands," it said.

The number of active coronavirus cases surpassed the 20-lakh mark in India as the country continued to record a mammoth surge in daily cases of the coronavirus disease.

The nationwide tally of Covid cases mounted to 1,53,21,089 with a record single-day rise of 2,59,170 coronavirus infections, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Tuesday.

The State Department announced on Monday that it would begin to update its travel advisories to more closely align with those from the CDC. The update comes as the world continues to grapple with the coronavirus pandemic, which has now claimed more than 3 million lives worldwide.

It strongly recommended US citizens to reconsider all travel abroad encompassing 80 per cent of the world.

The advisories, it said, also take into account logistical factors, including in-country testing availability and current travel restrictions for US citizens. PTI