The State Department of the United States of America has placed Liberia among 20 countries safe to travel to, out of 197 countries in the world.
“This report will boost the country’s image around the globe. The message is clear: Liberia is doing many things right, which our international partners are closely monitoring. We should receive this news with open arms,” a veteran diplomat said.
The U.S. State Department is updating its travel guidance “to better reflect CDC’s science-based Travel Health Notices”.
The new list, using a four-tier method of notices, deems approximately 80% of countries worldwide as “Do Not Travel”.
Of the 197 countries on Earth, this leaves only two listed as “Exercise Normal Precautions” (New Zealand and Bhutan), and a further 18 as “Exercise Increased Caution” (Samoa, Belize, Benin, Equatorial Guinea, Fiji, Grenada, Palau, Saint Kitts & Nevis, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Liberia, Mauritania, Montserrat, Rwanda, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe).
The remaining countries are all now listed as “Reconsider Travel”, or even more restrictive.
Every one of the eight most popular international destinations for U.S. travelers — Canada, Mexico, the U.K, Italy, France, the Dominican Republic, Spain and Germany — are listed as “Do Not Travel”.
The change “will result in a significant increase in the number of countries at Level 4: Do Not Travel, to approximately 80% of countries worldwide”, the department said in a statement.
“This does not imply a reassessment of the current health situation in a given country, but rather reflects an adjustment in the State Department’s Travel Advisory system to rely more on CDC’s existing epidemiological assessment.”
Since the global outbreak of COVID-19 in late 2019, there have been 142.2 million cases worldwide and over 3 million deaths.