The U.S. State Department and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (C.D.C.) have lifted their total interactional travel advisory on Thursday, about five months after recommending citizens avoid overseas travel due to the coronavirus pandemic. The department is now issuing a leveled list of travel advisories that range from "Level 1: Exercise Normal Precautions" to "Level 4: Do Not Travel" in order to keep American travelers informed of the health and safety conditions of different nations as the pandemic continues.
"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 travels detailed and actionable information to make informed travel decisions," the State Department issued in a statement. "This will also provide U.S. citizens 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 department noted that is will be monitoring the conditions across the world, while working with the C.D.C. and other health agencies in our to keep an accurate list as the pandemic evolves.
The blanket travel advisory was originally issued on March 19, aimed at preventing Americans from bringing infections back to the U.S. from outside travel. As the pandemic evolved, U.S. citizens became strictly restricted from entering many countries due to the large scale of the national outbreak. The United States currently has more than 4.8 million known infections and large outbreaks of community spread.
Executive Order
President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order that will require the federal government to purchase certain medical supplies and equipment that is determined to be essential to the U.S., as well as removing regulatory steps for approval of new U.S. produced drugs. The executive order was named "Buy American."
"As we've seen in this pandemic, the United States must produce essential equipment, supplies and pharmaceuticals for ourselves," Trump stated during a speech at a Whirlpool
Senior White House adviser Peter Navarro stated that it was critical for the U.S. to make its own necessary medical supplies to prevent future crises and ending the nation's reliance on foreign goods, according to Reuters. Navarro added that the executive order will give U.S. drug ingredient makers priority status when under regulatory review, as well as require certain government agencies to only use American goods.
Gilead Update
Gilead Sciences
The company stated that it expects to be able to produce "several million more" courses in 2021 due to its global network of manufacturing deals. Gilead added that it has increased the supply of the drug by more than "50-fold" since January.
Remdesivir is the only drug approved for emergency use in severe coronavirus infections.
