Cuomo said 120 countries now require a negative test before arriving from the UK and that some European countries have begun to close their borders. But the U.S. has not done so, and Cuomo called it “reprehensible.”
“We have about six daily flights coming from the UK and we’ve done absolutely nothing,” Cuomo said. “For me, that’s reprehensible, because that’s what happened in the spring. The coronavirus is in China. No, no, in Europe. It came from Europe and we didn’t do anything.”
EU governments say they are acting in response to tougher measures imposed on and around London by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Saturday. He immediately put these regions on a new level of level 4 restrictions, saying that a new variant of the virus that moves quickly and is 70% more transmissible than existing strains seems to be driving the rapid spread of new infections in London and in the south of England.
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Cuomo continued to compare inaction with what happened in the spring.
“Right now this variant in the UK gets on a plane and flies to JFK. Today. 120 countries require a test. We don’t. Other European countries have banned it. We haven’t done it. And today this variant gets on a plane and lands in JFK. How many times in your life do you have to make the same mistake before you learn. Be one of the 120 countries that require a test before you get to the United States This is the mistake we made. “
Cuomo said the Port Authority has no authority to ban passengers or monitor the health of passengers; it is federal.
“Where’s HHS. Where’s CDC. Where’s NIH. That’s the same mistake and literally six flights a day. And all it takes is one person.”
The governor’s other major concern is that the new strain of the virus is 70% more transmissible. Experts say viruses mutate regularly, but many of these changes do not affect how easily the virus spreads.
Cuomo said the state has received all the vaccine shipments that had been promised so far. He said he will have vaccination numbers updated on Monday, when he will also talk about the start of vaccinations in nursing homes.
The increase in Thanksgiving seemed to affect the region of the three states less than other states, he said.
“New York, Connecticut, New Jersey had fewer trips during Thanksgiving and seems proportionately less high,” Cuomo said.
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