US lifts Global Level 4 warning against international travel amid COVID-19, but countries still bar Americans

WASHINGTON - The U.S. State Department lifted its “Global Level 4 Health Advisory” on Thursday, which was previously put in place to limit international travel amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“With health and safety conditions improving in some countries and potentially deteriorating in others, the Department is returning to our previous system of country-specific levels of travel advice (with Levels from 1-4 depending on country-specific conditions), in order to give travelers detailed and actionable information to make informed travel decisions,” the U.S. State Department said in a notice posted online.

The advisory was initially put into effect on March 19. The agency said the change back to country-specific levels of travel advice will also provide Americans “more detailed information about the current status in each country.”

“We continue to recommend U.S. citizens exercise caution when traveling abroad due to the unpredictable nature of the pandemic,” the State Department said.

An undated file image shows a person holding a United States passport. (File photo/El Nuevo Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

But for those eager to travel abroad, many countries around the world are still barring entry to U.S. travelers due to the country’s large outbreak — including most nations within the European Union, the Bahamas, and even Canada.

Nearly 19 million people have contracted the novel coronavirus worldwide, including more than 4.8 million in the United States, according to data compiled Aug. 6 by Johns Hopkins.

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This story was reported from Cincinnati.