The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention added St Vincent among five new destinations to its “high” risk category for travellers on Monday.
The Central American country of Belize, Bahamas, Montserrat, St Vincent and Eswatini were all moved to Level 3, or “high” risk for Covid-19.
St Vincent was previously listed as Level 2, “moderate” risk.
In April, the CDC overhauled its ratings system for assessing Covid-19 risk for travellers.
The Level 3 “high” risk category is now the top rung in terms of the risk level. Level 2 is considered “moderate” risk, and Level 1 is “low” risk.
Level 4, previously the highest risk category, is now reserved only for special circumstances, such as extremely high case counts, the emergence of a new variant of concern or health care infrastructure collapse. Under the new system, no destinations have been placed at Level 4 so far.
St Vincent’s Ministry of Health on 24 May reported 117 reported cases and 7 hospitalisations.