The US government has raised the Netherlands’ coronavirus risk status to level 4, its highest rating, a day after transatlantic routes opened up again for visitors.

The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advises against all travel to the Netherlands, though in practice the rules are unchanged. Anyone who has been fully vaccinated in the last 14 days has been able to enter the United States since Monday.

Luxembourg and the Faroe Islands also had their risk level raised after the CDC said there was now a ‘very high level of Covid-19 in the country’. Around 80 countries around the world are now on level 4, including Belgium and the United Kingdom.

The US closed its borders to European travellers in March last year and extended it when President Joe Biden took office in January. Before the pandemic European visitors accounted for around 20% of all travel to the US, which has also been hit by a fall-off in tourists from China.