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By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON, Jan 24 (Reuters) - The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and State Department on Monday advised against travel to 15 countries and territories, citing a rising number of COVID-19 cases.
The CDC elevated its travel recommendation to "Level Four: Very High" for Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Fiji, Jamaica, Guadalupe, Kuwait, Mongolia, Niger, Peru, Romania, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Martin, Tunisia and United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The CDC now recommends against travel to about 115 countries and territories worldwide, or more than half of all destinations.
The State Department on Monday raised its recommendation to "Level Four: Do Not Travel" for 14 countries and territories that were also elevated by CDC.
The State Department had already listed Mongolia at Level Four. About 140 countries are listed at "Do Not Travel," including some for non-COVID-19 concerns.
Since mid-December, the U.S. government has added more than 50 countries and territories to its list of places to avoid, citing the Omicron variant.
The CDC also raised travel warnings for another 10 countries to "Level Three: High" that urges unvaccinated Americans to avoid non-essential travel, including Japan, India, Congo, Guatemala, Mali, Kyrgyzstan and Senegal.
The Biden administration agreed last month to lift travel restrictions on eight southern African countries that were imposed in November, including South Africa. (Reporting by David Shepardson Editing by Chris Reese and Richard Chang)
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