CDC Adds the Dominican Republic to High Covid-19 Risk List

(CNN) - The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has added two destinations to its "high" category for Covid-19 risk -- including a Caribbean nation popular for its beaches.

The Dominican Republic and Kuwait, a Middle Eastern country known for its cultural offerings, are both now listed as "Level 3: Covid-19 High." The CDC overhauled its ratings system for assessing Covid-19 risk for travelers in April.

Level 3, or "high," is now the top rung in terms of risk level and applies to places that have had more than 100 cases per 100,000 residents in the past 28 days. Level 2 and Level 1 are considered "moderate" and "low" risk, respectively.

Level 4, previously the highest risk category, is now reserved only for special circumstances, such as extremely high case counts, emergence of a new variant of concern or health care infrastructure collapse. Under the new system, no destinations have been placed at Level 4 so far.

In a weekly update with little movement overall, Monday's move to Level 3 is a big jump up for Kuwait, which had been at Level 1. The Dominican Republic moved up from Level 2.

There were almost 115 destinations at Level 3 on June 27. Level 3 locations account for almost half of the roughly 235 places monitored by the CDC.