US advises against travel to Ireland, warning of rising Covid-19 cases

Greece, Iran and US Virgin Islands among others listed under ‘avoid travel’ warning

Ireland has been added to the United States' "Level Four" travel list due to rising Covid numbers, with the state department warning against travel to the country.

America’s top health body, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), issued the level four travel health notice for Ireland, a designation which indicates a “very high level of Covid-19 in the country”.

The State Department has advised its citizens not to travel.

The United Kingdom was added to the list on July 19th. Greece, a popular destination for US tourists this summer, was also added to the list on Monday.

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Ireland opened its borders to vaccinated US citizens from July 19th. Anyone arriving from the United States does not have to quarantine, or produce a Covid test.

The new travel advisory from the State Department comes as Ireland recorded 1,352 new cases of Covid-19 on Monday, up from 1,098 the previous day.

The United States is now reporting around 80,000 cases a day, fuelled by the Delta variant which now accounts for most Covid infections.

However, across the country there is a broad disparity in case numbers, with a small number of states, including Florida, Alabama and Arkansas, accounting for most of the infection levels.

Suzanne Lynch

Suzanne Lynch

Suzanne Lynch, a former Irish Times journalist, was Washington correspondent and, before that, Europe correspondent