File photo.
Tulum, Mexico, one of the favorite tourist places of travelers.
(Credit: Daniel Slim/AFP via Getty Images)
(CNN) --
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, reduced the risk of travel by covid-19 to one of the most popular destinations in the Western Hemisphere on Monday.
Mexico dropped one level on the CDC scale from "high" risk to "moderate" risk on May 2, along with four other places around the world.
Tourism is an important segment of Mexico's economy, and the country has had some of the most relaxed border restrictions in the world during the pandemic.
There are no vaccination or testing requirements to enter Mexico.
There was not much movement overall Monday on the CDC advisory list, although Egypt, a major Middle Eastern tourism hub, was placed in the "unknown" risk category.
The CDC puts a destination there when it hasn't received enough data in the last seven days to make an assessment.
The CDC recently revised its classification system.
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The CDC adjusts the travel risk list for covid.
Most of Europe is now at the high-risk level
The Tier 3 "high" risk category is now the top rung in terms of risk level.
Level 2 is considered "moderate" risk and level 1 is "low" risk.
Tier 4 is now reserved for special circumstances only.
Under the new system, no Tier 4 destinations have been placed so far.
Level 3 risk for covid-19
File photo. Pedestrians walk down the Champs-Elysées in front of the Arc de Triomphe monument in Paris on April 29, 2022. France is at Level 3, or "high" risk of covid-19. (Credit: AFP/AFP via Getty Images)
In the new CDC system, the Tier 3 "high" risk category applies to destinations that have had more than 100 cases per 100,000 residents in the past 28 days.
Mexico was removed from this category and there were no new additions to Level 3 this May 2.
However, much of Europe is still on this list with the summer travel season drawing ever closer.
On May 2, some popular European nations that were still at Tier 3 included:
France
Germany
Greece
Ireland
Italy
Netherlands
Portugal
Spain
United Kingdom
It's not just European favorites that are in Tier 3. Other popular high-risk travel spots around the world include:
Brazil
Canada
Costa Rica
Malaysia
South Korea
Thailand
There are over 110 destinations in Tier 3 this week.
Level 3 locations account for nearly half of the approximately 235 locations monitored by the CDC.
The CDC recommends that you get up-to-date on your COVID-19 vaccinations before traveling to a Tier 3 destination. Being "up-to-date" includes not only the initial full vaccinations, but also any boosters for which you are eligible.
The CDC does not include the United States on its alert list, but on its color-coded map of the world, the CDC had it at Level 3 on Monday.
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Level 2 risk for covid-19
Destinations carrying the "Level 2: Moderate COVID-19" designation reported 50 to 100 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population in the past 28 days.
Five destinations moved to this level on Monday.
They are:
Old and bearded
Belize
Mexico
Taiwan
Iran
The move was not good news for Taiwan, which has been one of the bright spots for much of the pandemic.
He had been at Level 1.
In one of the latest obstacles to keeping its borders closed to tourism, the island has been easing some types of travel restrictions in the past two months.
However, leisure travel is still off the table here and in several other destinations in Asia.
The move was welcome news for the other four places on this list, which had been in Tier 3.
You can see the CDC's risk levels for any global destination on their travel advice page.
In its broader travel guidance, the CDC has recommended avoiding all international travel until one is fully vaccinated.
Level 1 risk for covid-19
To be on "Level 1: Low Covid-19 Alert," a destination must have 49 or fewer new cases per 100,000 residents in the past 28 days.
Only two destinations were added on May 2:
Botswana
Indonesia
Botswana, an emerging favorite for safaris, had been at an uncharted level.
Indonesia was previously at Tier 2.
This tier is dominated by destinations in Africa, including Kenya, Rwanda, and Senegal.
Tier 1 had around 55 total entries this week.
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unknown risk
Tourists visit the Temple of Hatshepsut in Luxor on April 26, 2022. Egypt was placed in the "unknown" risk category on May 2. (Credit: Sui Xiankai/Xinhua/Getty Images)
Finally, there are destinations for which the CDC has an "unknown" risk due to lack of information.
Usually, but not always, these are small, remote places or places with ongoing wars or riots.
Monday's three additions to this category are:
Egypt
Guinea
Paraguay
All three had been at Level 3.
The CDC advises against traveling to these places precisely because the risks are unknown.
The Azores Islands, Cambodia and Nicaragua also attract a good number of visitors in this category.
How to assess the risk levels of travel?
Transmission rates are "a guide" to estimates of personal risk for travelers, according to Dr. Leana Wen, a CNN medical analyst.
We have entered "a phase of the pandemic where people have to make their own decisions based on their medical circumstances as well as their risk tolerance when it comes to contracting Covid-19," said Wen, an emergency physician and professor of health policy and management at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health.
There are other factors to consider besides transmission rates, Wen says.
"Another is what precautions are required and followed where you're going and then the third is what you plan to do once you're there.
"Are you planning to visit a lot of attractions and go to closed bars? That's very different than going to a place where you plan to lay on the beach all day and not interact with anyone else. It's very different. Those are very different levels of risk." ".
Vaccination is the most important safety factor for travel, as unvaccinated travelers are more likely to get sick and spread COVID-19 to others, Wen said.
And it's also important to consider what you would do if you end up testing positive away from home.
Where will you stay and how easy will it be to get tested to go home?
Covid-19
