The highly contagious strain Covid-19 recently discovered in the UK has reached New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo said Monday.
State health officials said they discovered a case of the tension in a Saratoga County state man. The new variant, known to spread 70% faster than previous versions of the virus, was first discovered in the US in a man in Colorado, health officials said last week.
The New York man is associated with N. Fox Jewelers in Saratoga Springs, a company where other people tested positive for the virus, New York state officials said. Officials urged anyone who has visited the store since December 18 to get tested.
A hand-cleaning station at N. Fox Jewelers in Saratoga Springs, NY, in May.
Photo:
Cindy Schultz for The Wall Street Journal
The identification of the new species in New York came as Covid-19 hospital admissions and positivity rates around the state continue to rise, mostly in areas north of the Hudson Valley.
Another 170 New Yorkers died Sunday as a result of Covid-19, and 8,251 people in the state were hospitalized, the Democratic governor said. That is the highest number of hospital admissions since May 7, according to state data. Calculated on a seven-day average, 71% of the state’s available hospital beds are occupied.
The number of people hospitalized is higher in upstate regions that were not hit as hard as New York City during the first wave of the pandemic this spring. The highest positivity rates are in the Mohawk Valley and Finger Lakes regions; the latter includes the city of Rochester.
If you’re in those parts of the state, take it seriously. You should take more precautions than people in other parts of the state, ”said Mr Cuomo at a news conference.
He said he would only order further shutdowns if the data showed that hospitals would be exceeded. New York currently bans gatherings of more than 10 people in the state and bans indoor dining in New York City.
Albany County Executive Dan McCoy said Monday that the number of hospitalized Covid-19 patients has surpassed record levels for the past three consecutive days.
Albany County Executive Dan McCoy said during a briefing on Monday that Covid-19 hospitalizations have broken records in recent days.
Photo:
Office of Albany County Executive Daniel P. McCoy
On Monday, he urged people to stay home and support restaurants by getting take out, and he asked school districts to pause personal learning for a week or two instead of continuing after the vacation break.
“Only go outside when necessary. If you can stay at home, stay at home. Don’t travel if you don’t have to, ”said Mr. McCoy, a Democrat. “It will all have consequences for the future.”
Only the state has the power to close school buildings or impose restrictions on activities such as food, personal care and gyms.
Mr Cuomo said earlier in July that he would close schools in a region where the seven-day average positivity rate was above 9%. But on Monday, he said schools could remain open if data showed that the school’s positivity rate was lower than in the surrounding communities. It would be up to individual districts, the governor said.
The Mohawk Valley had the state’s highest seven-day positivity rate, at 10.4%, state officials reported Monday. Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente, whose office is in Utica, agreed with Mr. Cuomo’s approach.
“I can’t say I want things to be shut down because I don’t think that’s going to fix it,” said Republican Picente. “It’s behavior, education we need to continue and hopefully we need to get this vaccine out the door sooner to turn this tide.”
Write to Jimmy Vielkind at [email protected]
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