US places Ireland on "do not travel" advisory

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the US has placed Ireland on its “Level 4 - Very High Level of COVID-19” as of Monday, August 2.

As such, the CDC is advising people to “avoid travel to Ireland,” but if you must travel to Ireland, “make sure you are fully vaccinated before travel.”

Ireland is one of 16 countries that was placed on the CDC's Level 4 on Monday, raising the total number of countries on Level 4 to 70. To be placed on the CDC's Level 4, a country will have reported more than 500 new cases over the past 28 days per 100,000 population.

In line with the CDC, the US State Department has placed Ireland on its “Level 4 - Do Not Travel” advisory, citing a "very high level of COVID-19 in the country."

COVID live updates

On Monday, when the new advisories for Ireland were issued, Ireland's Department of Health had reported 1,352 new cases of COVID-19 within the previous 24 hours. 177 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized in Ireland, with 27 of those patients in intensive care.

Ireland's Department of Health also said on Monday that 2,768,882 people in the country are fully vaccinated and that 3,102,229 people have received their first COVID vaccine dose.

Currently, the Republic of Ireland is allowing US travelers with valid proof of vaccination to enter the country without pre-testing or quarantine upon arrival requirements. (Some airlines are reportedly still requiring pre-travel testing.)

If you are not fully vaccinated upon arrival in the Republic of Ireland from the US, you are must conduct pre-travel testing and undergo self-quarantine upon arrival, which you can test out of no sooner than five days after arrival.

If you are planning on traveling to Ireland from the US, you are encouraged to stay up-to-date with Ireland's entry requirements, which can change without much notice.

International travel returns for Ireland from July 19

The new advisories in the US against travel to Ireland come as many Irish citizens eagerly await updates as to when they will again be able to travel to the US. Since March 2020, the US has had a ban on most noncitizens from Ireland, as well as other nations, entering the country amidst the pandemic.

More recently, a White House official, citing the Delta variant, indicated that the travel restrictions on entry into the US will remain in place for now.

The new advisories come just a few weeks after the United Kingdom, including Northern Ireland, was placed on the same levels. On July 19, the CDC designated the United Kingdom, as Level 4: Very High Level of COVID-19, and the US State Department, in turn, placed the UK on its Level 4: Do Not Travel advisory.