��������

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is set to update its international COVID-19 travel advisory system Monday, designating its highest-risk category for extreme scenarios.

“To help the public understand when the highest level of concern is most urgent, this new system will reserve Level 4 travel health notices for special circumstances, such as rapidly escalating case trajectory or extremely high case counts, emergence of a new variant of concern, or health care infrastructure collapse,” the agency said in a statement last week.

The three lower-level warnings will continue to be determined mainly by 28-day coronavirus incidence or case counts. “With this new configuration, travelers will have a more actionable alert for when they should not travel to a certain destination (Level 4), regardless of vaccination status, until we have a clearer understanding of the COVID-19 situation at that destination,” the statement continued.

During the pandemic, the CDC has updated weekly its list of countries travelers should avoid because of the coronavirus, with its “Level 4” warning indicating very high levels of the coronavirus and instructing all travelers to avoid the area.