The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention increased travel advisories to Canada on Monday, advising Americans to “reconsider” travel plans into the country amid a spike in COVID-19.
The State Department said Monday that on the advice of the CDC, it had re-categorized travel advisories from Level 2 — “exercise increased caution” — to Level 3 — “reconsider travel” — due to “a high level of COVID-19 in the country.”
Canada has seen an increase in cases as the more contagious delta variant spreads throughout the country. According to Johns Hopkins, case rates have increased from a low of about 2,500 a day at the end of July to a current total of about 21,000.
By comparison, the U.S. currently has a seven-day average of about 42,000 cases a day, a number that appears to be falling.
Canada reports that it has fully vaccinated 65% of its total population, while the U.S. has fully vaccinated 52% of its population.
The move comes less than three weeks after the U.S. lowered travel advisories to Level 2. That came a day after Canada opened its border with the U.S. for non-essential travel for some vaccinated Americans. It marked the first time since the start of the pandemic that Canada had allowed non-essential travel from Americans.
The U.S. has kept its restrictions on non-essential travel through its borders in place since the start of the pandemic. Those restrictions will remain in place until at least Sept. 21.
