Covid-19 Omicron outbreak: US warns against travel to New Zealand due to rising cases

From RNZ

The United States' Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has raised its travel advisory warning on travel to New Zealand.

The CDC updated its travel warning to the highest "level four: very high" for travel to New Zealand due to Covid-19 cases, of which yesterday alone there were 23,894 new ones recorded.

According to the Reuters' Covid-19 tracker, Covid-19 infections are decreasing in the US, with 49,611 new infections reported on average each day.

The CDC states that if American people must travel to New Zealand, they should ensure they are up-to-date with their Covid-19 vaccinations.

The health warnings are determined by the "level of Covid-19 in the country or other special considerations".

Some primary criteria for determining the level of the health warning involves looking at the trajectory of new cases and cumulative new cases over the past 28 days per 100,000 population.

The centre also advises travellers to follow all requirements and recommendations in the country if they do travel.

Many countries have been rated with a level four risk warning by the CDC, including Australia. Hong Kong and Thailand were also added to the list yesterday.

Travel restrictions were eased in New Zealand from last week, with returnees now not required to self-isolate upon arrival.