New Delhi: The United States' public health agency has warned travellers against heading to India even if they had taken COVID-19 vaccination, amid a massive second wave of infections sweeping across the country, NDTV has reported.

The US's Center for Disease Control and Prevention has placed India in the highest Level 4 category implying that India has a "very high level of Covid-19".

"Because of the current situation in India, even fully vaccinated travelers may be at the risk for getting and spreading Covid-19 variants and should avoid all travel to India," the US public health agency has said as part of its "Key Information for Travelers to India".

In case if the travel becomes unavoidable, it told travellers to get inoculated before setting forth and released a complete list of safety precautions to be followed, including wearing a mask, maintaining a distance of 6 feet from others, avoiding crowds and frequent washing of hands.

This comes a day after the UK placed India under a 'red list' banning all travel to and from India, as fears arose of a new COVID-19 Indian variant. Hong Kong has also suspended all flights from India until May 3.

India reported 2.59 lakh new coronavirus cases and 1,761 deaths on Monday, April 19, as per the latest data from the Union health ministry. The active number of cases in the country stands at 20.31 lakh.

Besides the rapid spread of the virus, India is also grappling with a severe shortage of beds, medical oxygen, essential drugs and vaccines. With each passing day, new restrictions are being announced in different states. Delhi is now under a six-day lockdown, starting from April 19 evening until April 27 morning, as the state logged a record number of nearly 25,000 cases every day.

Restrictions, including night curfews, have also returned to Karnataka, Rajasthan, among other cities and states as cases began to rise rapidly.

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