*The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urges Americans to avoid travelling to New Zealand, Hong Kong and Thailand because of very high levels of COVID-19

Gbenga Kayode | ConsumerConnect

As nose masks are coming off and crowds are gathering for public events in just about every part of the United States (US), the American country’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued travel advisories for three international destinations.

ConsumerConnect gathered the health regulatory agency urged Americans to avoid travelling to New Zealand, Hong Kong and Thailand because of very high levels of COVID-19.

The CDC disclosed that it had placed all three places in the “Level 4” category, which signifies a very high rate of community transmission.

Until recently, the three nations had fallen into the “Level 3” category, with high levels of spread.

Interestingly, New Zealand and Hong Kong were able to keep the virus under control for most of the pandemic with very strict restrictions, agency report stated.

They are now seeing cases surge while much of the rest of the world is recovering.

Subvariant keeping US case numbers elevated

In a related development, nose masks are coming off and crowds are gathering for public events in just about every part of the United States.

However, some health officials worry that the subvariant of the Omicron variant – known as BA.2 – will continue to cause infections.

The CDC reports that infections caused by BA.2 have nearly doubled since early February and now account for 11.6 percent of overall virus cases as of March 5, 2022.

Some health experts also noted that BA.2 is probably about 30 percent more infectious than the original Omicron variant of the damaging Coronavirus pandemic.

But on the positive side, currently available data suggests that it is less virulent, according to report.