More infectious strain of coronavirus made it to New York: first case identified
'05.01.2021'
Lyudmila Balabay
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said on January 4 that a resident of the upstate had been confirmed to be infected with a new strain of coronavirus, which was first detected in the UK. The details were shared by the edition Pix 11.
According to Cuomo, a man over 60 years old who works for N. Fox Jewelers in Saratoga was infected. The governor noted that the man has not traveled anywhere recently, so a new strain of the virus is likely circulating in the community of the town, if not the state.
“I think it is much more common than people think,” Cuomo said.
He added that this is the first known case of the new strain in New York, out of about 5000 tests conducted for this particular strain.
Cuomo said the man had symptoms of COVID-19, but is now "on the mend." How severe the symptoms were, the governor did not specify.
Three other employees of the same jewelry store also fell ill. It is not yet clear whether a new strain of coronavirus was the cause of their illness.
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The jewelry store is closed from December 24th. Cuomo urged everyone who visited N. Fox Jewelers from Dec. 18 to 24 to contact the State Health Department and get tested immediately.
“From a public health perspective, contact tracing is critical right now,” the governor said. "We want to make sure we're doing our best to effectively track contacts in this particular case."
Health experts say the new strain of coronavirus is no more dangerous than the one that originally spread, but it appears to be more infectious. Scientists have suggested that it may be 70% more infectious than the original strain.
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This strain was first discovered in the UK in the fall of 2020. Since then, it has also been identified in parts of the United States. In December, health officials from Colorado and California confirmed cases of human infection in these regions.
Cuomo began sounding the alarm about the new virus strain last month. He called on airlines that fly from the UK to New York to mandate COVID-19 testing for travelers and has launched a testing program in the region to detect the new strain.
