US lowers travel risk for Cyprus

The CDC in Atlanta has issued new travel advisories lowering the threat of COVID-19 in many destinations including Cyprus, prompting the State Department to change its advisory for the island from “do not travel” to “reconsider travel.”

After months of warning against travel to Cyprus due to pandemic risks, officials in the United States this week are telling the public simply to "reconsider" travel plans to the island due to the risk of COVID-19, a Level 3 advisory from the state department.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention made the upgrade for over 60 countries including the Republic of Cyprus after months of designating them to Level 4, a rating that discouraged all travel to the island.

But new level 3 still indicates a high level of COVID-19 on the island, meaning that travel is to be avoided due to serious risks to safety and security.

The State Department said it had updated its recommendations to reflect a recent methodology update. But officials noted not all ratings were revised because of other factors including "commercial flight availability,  restrictions on US citizen entry, and impediments to obtaining COVID test results within three calendar days."

More than 51% of US population fully vaccinated

Cyprus’ upgrade came after CDC said more than 51% of the US population was fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

An additional 50 countries and territories have been placed in lower COVID-19 risk categories, Level 2 or Level 1, with countries ranked lowest now including Singapore, Israel, South Korea, Iceland, and Albania.

Other countries now listed at Level 3 include Greece, Russia, Turkey, France, Spain, Ukraine, Hungary and Italy.