New York, United States.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Monday confirmed the presence of the new British coronavirus strain in the region, which was detected in a resident of Saratoga County, in the central part of the state. .
“Wadsworth’s lab has confirmed the first case of the UK variant (B.1.1.7) of virus causing covid,” Cuomo announced on the social network Twitter.
“An individual from Saratoga County, New York, has tested positive for this strain,” the governor added, noting, however, that the person has not traveled recently.
It is the fourth U.S. state to detect the presence of the strain, considered most contagious, after California, Florida and Colorado.
Although it is more easily transmitted, experts have noted that it does not appear more virulent, and it is believed that the vaccine developed by pharmaceutical companies will also be effective against this variant.
“It doesn’t make people sicker or cause more deaths,” U.S. epidemiologist Anthony Fauci told reporters on Sunday.
“It doesn’t seem to evade the protection you should have from the antibodies that induce the vaccines we’re currently using,” Fauci added in reference to information they’ve received from UK scientists, which he noted have yet to be confirmed by US experts.
The United States remains the country hardest hit by the pandemic, with 20.7 million confirmed cases and more than 352,000 deaths, according to the independent Johns Hopkins University count.