STATE: “The State Department has revamped its warnings about the risks of traveling to other countries, in an effort to make them easier to understand, officials announced Wednesday [1-10-18].
The department changed the previous phrasing from the previous warnings and alerts, which some travelers found confusing, to a colored-number system of advisories with more explicit descriptions of what yielded the ranking.
Countries are now labeled No. 1 for taking normal precautions, No. 2 for using increased caution, No. 3 urging travelers to reconsider a trip and No. 4 for recommending against travel at that time. Specific threats will be described with summaries such as C for crime, T for terrorism and U for civil unrest…
The purpose of the consular messages is to offer timely advice about destinations and activities overseas. Reviews are done annually for countries ranked No. 1 or 2, and every six months for No. 3 or 4, with more frequent reviews if events warrant.
But travelers were often confused on the difference between warnings and alerts, or between emergency and security messages, Bernier-Toth said.”
-Bart Jensen, “State Department revamps travel advisories to make them easier to understand,” USA Today, Jan. 10, 2018 04:04pm