Covid: CDC flags Bangladesh and 5 other countries as ‘high risk’ for travel

The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the United States on Monday added Bangladesh, along with five other counties, to its 'high' risk category — Level 3 — for travel.

The warnings come after the South Asian country witnessed a spike in Covid cases in recent times.

CDC, the national health protection agency of the US, also issued similar warnings for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Poland, Fiji, El Salvador, and Honduras, reports CNN. 

Level 3 designation applies to places that have had more than 100 cases per 100,000 residents in the past 28 days. Level 2 and Level 1 are considered "moderate" and "low" risks, respectively.

According to CNN, there were more than 120 destinations at Level 3 on July 25, accounting for about half the roughly 235 locations monitored by the CDC.

In its travel warnings for Level 3 designated places, the CDC recommended that travellers take all the Covid-19 vaccines they are eligible for before visiting the destinations. In addition, people with weakened immune systems or at risk of getting very sick from Covid-19, are also recommended to avoid non-essential travel to these places.

Bangladesh reported four deaths and 621 cases from Covid-19 in the last 24 hours till 8.00 am Tuesday.

The positivity rate was recorded at 6.14% during the same period after testing 10,119 samples across the country.

Experts in Bangladesh, however, think the Covid situation in the country has not yet deteriorated to the point that travel warnings are necessary.

"Bangladesh is not at risk from Covid. The infection rate is downward. Screening at the airports can be strengthened if there are concerns about the virus.  But the situation is not that bad to issue travel warnings," Dr M Mushtuq Husain, adviser to the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research IEDCR told The Business Standard.

So far, 29,275 people have died and 20,02,944 tested positive for the coronavirus in Bangladesh since its onset in 2020.

Meanwhile, much of Europe has been stubbornly lodged at Level 3 for months with the summer travel season in full swing. As of 25 July, the following popular European destinations were among those remaining at Level 3, including France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

Apart from these European countries, numerous other destinations around the world fall under the category including Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Malaysia, Mexico, South Korea, Thailand, Turkey, etc.