The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention added just one new destination, the Indian Ocean island nation of Mauritius, to its highest-risk category for travel on Monday.
The weekly travel risk-level update brought good news for islands clustered in and around the Caribbean Sea with nine destinations — including the Bahamas, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic — dropping down one rung from Level 4.
The CDC places a destination at “Level 4: Covid-19 Very High” risk when more than 500 cases per 100,000 residents are registered in the past 28 days.
Mauritius, located off the eastern coast of Africa, recently logged a 180% increase in weekly cases, according to World Health Organization figures. Located about 700 miles (1,100 km)east of Madagascar, Mauritius had previously been on Level 3.
Last week, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Thailand were added to Level 4.
After declines in global cases since the end of January, WHO logged an uptick in cases worldwide for the week of March 7.