![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerThe CDC today moved 22 nations into its highest-risk travel category for Covid-19. There are now 101 countries and territories designated as Level 4: Very High. Sources: CNN.com article 18 Jan 2022, CDC "Travel Recommendations by Destination" (retrieved 18 Jan 2022).
While it's not surprising that more countries are moving into the highest risk category— we're in a global surge of the Omicron strain that started 6 weeks ago— what is surprising is how the US would rank against its own criteria for this list. The CDC places a destination at Level 4 when more than 500 cases per 100,000 residents are registered in the past 28 days. Right now the US is averaging over 200 cases per 100,000 residents each day. In the past 28 days we've registered more than 10x as many cases as the threshold. There's variation among the states, of course, but even the least-infected state is way, way over the limit.
Yes, if the US were to hold itself up to its own standards, the CDC would be recommending Americans "Avoid travel [within the US]. If you must travel [within the US], make sure you are fully vaccinated before travel." And it wouldn't even be a close call. We've got 50x the infection rate necessary for this warning.
Or as one of my friends elsenet quipped, "Travel to foreign countries is less dangerous than the local supermarket."
While it's not surprising that more countries are moving into the highest risk category— we're in a global surge of the Omicron strain that started 6 weeks ago— what is surprising is how the US would rank against its own criteria for this list. The CDC places a destination at Level 4 when more than 500 cases per 100,000 residents are registered in the past 28 days. Right now the US is averaging over 200 cases per 100,000 residents each day. In the past 28 days we've registered more than 10x as many cases as the threshold. There's variation among the states, of course, but even the least-infected state is way, way over the limit.
Yes, if the US were to hold itself up to its own standards, the CDC would be recommending Americans "Avoid travel [within the US]. If you must travel [within the US], make sure you are fully vaccinated before travel." And it wouldn't even be a close call. We've got 50x the infection rate necessary for this warning.
Or as one of my friends elsenet quipped, "Travel to foreign countries is less dangerous than the local supermarket."
