New York reported its first case of a brand new variant of the coronavirus, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo introduced Monday.
The Wadsworth lab in Albany confirmed the variant, often called B.1.1.7., in a person from Saratoga County, north of the capital, who had not traveled, Cuomo (D) mentioned on Twitter.
Cuomo urged individuals who visited N. Fox Jewelers, a jewellery retailer the place the person labored, from Dec. 18 to 24 to get examined, in accordance to the New York Times.
The newly discovered instances of the coronavirus variant, first detected within the United Kingdom and believed to be extra contagious, have experts and authorities officers frightened that it’ll additional pressure hospitals throughout the nation which might be already struggling to sustain with a deluge of instances after the vacation season.
“In 2021, we’re going to be focusing on controlling and defeating covid, and to do that we have two different goals we’re working on simultaneously — controlling the spread, and then putting a harpoon in the beast and actually defeating the virus thanks to the vaccine,” Cuomo mentioned throughout a information briefing Monday.
Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) of California mentioned Monday that 4 individuals in San Diego have examined constructive for the brand new pressure of the virus and that one of them was hospitalized. In San Bernardino, two extra instances had been detected, bringing the whole of such instances within the state to six, which native health officers had beforehand reported.
The San Bernardino County Department of Public Health mentioned Friday that the virus variant was present in two members of the identical family. One of them had contact with an individual who had traveled to Britain on Dec. 11.
Newsom mentioned he anticipated that extra individuals might be recognized with the brand new variant after genomics testing outcomes come again within the coming days. He added that contact tracing and illness investigation was underway and that it might assist present extra particulars in regards to the individuals who had examined constructive for the brand new pressure.
The governor additionally underlined that whereas the pressure is believed to be unfold extra simply, there isn’t a proof that it causes a extra extreme instances of covid-19.
California logged 29,633 instances Monday, a slight improve from the day prior to this, and reported 97 deaths, with a seven-day common of 336 deaths.
“This is a deadly disease. This is a deadly pandemic,” Newsom mentioned. “It remains more deadly today than at any point in the history of the pandemic.”
The first case of the brand new variant discovered within the United States was confirmed final week in Colorado.
