The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has moved Denmark and Germany into the highest travel risk category as Europe continues to grapple with a growing number of infections and deaths, forcing some countries to reintroduce quarantines and other restrictions they just thought were past.
Countries have received a Level 4 warning, which means the CDC is advising Americans to avoid traveling there, even if they are vaccinated. They join other European destinations on the Tier 4 list, including those that were added recently – Hungary, Iceland, Czech Republic and Guernsey last week – as well as others that have been on the list for months, like the UK.
In countries and territories of this group, the incidence of infection is more than 500 new cases per 100,000 people in the last 28 days (or, in places with a population of less than 100,000 inhabitants, more than 500 cases in the aggregate in the last 28 days).
This step was taken on the same day that national isolation was introduced in Austria due to the rapid increase in the number of cases. The isolation is expected to last 20 days, but will be reevaluated after 10 days.
The State Department also moved Denmark and Germany to its own Tier 4: Do Not Travel list on Monday, along with Iraq and Burundi. The State Department’s warnings include threats other than coronavirus, such as terrorism, civil unrest, crime, and natural disasters.
Over the past seven days, the number of daily reported infections has increased by 24 percent in Germany and 14 percent in Denmark, according to data tracked by The Washington Post. The population of both countries is highly vaccinated: 78.1 percent of people received at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine in Denmark and 70.6 percent in Germany.
The World Health Organization recently declared Europe the latest “epicenter” of the pandemic due to a surge in cases, prompting fears of resumption of mass travel.
