A Long Island resident has the first known case of the South African variant of coronavirus in New York State, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Sunday.
The mutated version of COVID-19 was detected in a Nassau County resident, the governor said in a press release.
The announcement came a week after it was found that a Connecticut resident hospitalized in New York had the variant.
The strain, originally identified in South Africa, was first discovered in the United States last month and scientists believe it can spread more easily than other virus variants.
His arrival in the Empire State means that “it’s more important than ever for New Yorkers to be alert, put on masks, wash their hands, and stay socially distant,” Cuomo said.
“We’re in a race right now, between our ability to vaccinate and those variants that are actively trying to proliferate, and we’ll only win that race if we stay smart and disciplined,” he said.
Laura Curran, a Nassau County executive, also urged residents to continue to take precautions.
“We don’t think the South African variant is more deadly, but it can be more contagious,” Curran said in a statement. “The best answer is to continue with the proven and true precautions: wear masks, avoid social gatherings, distance yourself, stay home, and get tested when you are sick.”
Meanwhile, the latest COVID-19 numbers in the state continued to show a downward trend in hospitalizations and deaths after a rebound around the holiday season.
Less than 5,800 patients were hospitalized with the virus on Saturday, more than 800 than the previous week.
Officials recorded 75 deaths from COVID-19 on Saturday, the first time since Dec. 16 that the daily death toll was less than 100.
Cuomo also announced that the state’s COVID-19 positivity rate stood at 2.99 percent, dropping below 3 percent for the first time since Nov. 23.
“We continue to see a reduction in positivity and hospitalizations across the state, which is good news, and this progress allows us to reopen the valve of our economy even further,” Cuomo said.
With publishing cables