U.S. urges Americans to ‘reconsider’ travel to Canada due to ‘high level’ of COVID cases

The U.S. Department of State issued a new warning Monday for people hoping to visit Canada in the near future, urging them to “reconsider” their plans as the country faces a “high level” of infections.

The new Level 3 advisory, which is the second highest on the agency’s scale, says unvaccinated travelers should avoid nonessential travel to Canada or make sure they are fully vaccinated before doing so.

The daily number of new COVID-19 cases in Canada has been on a “strong resurgence trajectory” in recent weeks, according to the country’s Public Health Agency. The national seven-day average of new cases reported daily between Aug. 20 and Aug. 26 was near 2,850, an increase of 29% over the previous week, the agency said in a statement.

The alarming surge involves “primarily” unvaccinated people, with the highly contagious delta variant accounting for the majority of new infections, according to the statement.

A family visits across the U.S.-Canada border at the Peace Arch Historical State Park as a cyclist rides past on the Canadian side, Monday, Aug. 9, 2021, in Blaine, Wash. (Elaine Thompson/)

In the U.S., meanwhile, multiple states are also facing another wave of new cases and hospitalizations, including Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida and Texas.

Nationwide, the seven-day rolling average of new daily cases was close to 130,000 over the past week, slightly lower than each of the past two weeks but still higher than every week since early February, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The relentless health crisis led the European Union to recommend that Americans be banned from nonessential travel to its member states. However, it’s up to each country to decide whether to impose such a ban.

The latest State Department advisory also urged citizens to reconsider traveling to Bermuda, Germany and Moldova. Several other countries, including Azerbaijan and Switzerland, were added to the agency’s “Do Not Travel” list, a Level 4 advisory. Canada initially appeared on that list before the State Department issued a correction to clarify it was only asking people to “reconsider” travel to the country.