KUALA LUMPUR – The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has listed Malaysia as a Covid-19 high-risk travel destination yesterday, alongside four other countries.
According to CNN, the CDC placed Malaysia, Bhutan, Brunei, and Iran in the “Level 4: Very High” Covid-19 risk category, which involved countries that recorded more than 500 infections per 100,000 citizens recorded in the past 28 days.
Last week, the four countries were placed in the “Level 3: High” risk category.
The report on the international news outlet noted multicultural Malaysia as a travel hotspot known for its beaches, cuisine, cultural melting pot, and cosmopolitan capital Kuala Lumpur.
The CDC put Malaysia on the list despite the Southeast Asian country closing off non-essential travel for foreign tourists.
The Malaysian CovidNow website listed 27,059 fresh Covid-19 cases and 43 deaths as of 12am today.
The inclusion of the four countries brings the number of nations listed in Level 4 to 140 destinations, underscoring the prevalence of the Omicron variant spreading across the world.
The total number of nations in Level 4 is almost double the 80 countries listed under the category in January this year.
The CDC had last week included South Korea and French Polynesia to the destinations listed as Level 4.
Other countries that remain on Level 4 include Singapore, Mexico, Canada, France, Peru, and Spain, while the United Kingdom has been in the category since July last year.
The CDC has also advised US travellers to refrain from all international travel unless they are fully vaccinated. – The Vibes, February 23, 2022
