First case of 'mutant strain' of COVID-19 that originated in the UK is found in New York
Gov Andrew Cuomo (pictured) on Monday announced that the first case of the ‘mutant strain’ of COVID-19, which originated in the UK, has been found in a New York man with no travel history
The highly-contagious UK strain of COVID has been found in a New York jewelry store worker – the tenth American across four states to have been diagnosed.
Gov Andrew Cuomo announced that the man in his 60s from Saratoga County in upstate New York has not traveled recently, which suggests that community spread is taking place.
The strain, B.1.1.7, is feared to be 70 per cent more transmissible and to spread more easily among children. It is not believed it leads to more severe cases, and higher mortality rates have not yet been reported.
Health officials do not know how widespread the UK strain is in the US but some fear it could have started spreading back in October.
The highly infectious mutant virus prompted British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to today plunge England into a new national lockdown until mid-February in a bid to stop its spread.
The UK currently has more cases and deaths per million people than the US. The US on Monday recorded 210,479 new cases and 1,394 additional fatalities as a result of COVID-19. UK health authorities have recorded more than 50,000 new infections daily since passing that milestone for the first time on December 29. On Monday, the UK reported 407 virus-related deaths.
‘Super-COVID’ is spreading across the US. It was first reported in Colorado last week. It was then confirmed in California, which now has six cases, and Florida before being found in New York (all depicted)
Cuomo said that the man is from Saratoga County, New York. Local reports have indicated that the man works at a jewelry store in Saratoga Springs
The first case of the strain in the US was confirmed last week in a nursing home located in a remote Colorado town. Colorado’s governor, Jared Polis, confirmed on December 29 that the new virus had been identified in his state, in Elbert County.
On Saturday it was revealed that the first confirmed infection was of a National Guard member in his 20s, who had been assigned to work at the Good Samaritan Society nursing home in Simla, to help with their outbreak.
The strain was then found in California and Florida, and it has now made its way to New York, which has reported 11,209 new cases of the coronaivrus.
According to local reports, the New York man works at a jewelry store in Saratoga County. Three other people who work at the store have also tested positive for COVID-19. As of Monday afternoon, it is unclear if they have the UK strain too.
Local officials are urging people who visited N Fox Jewelers in Saratoga Springs between December 18 to December 24 to get tested for the virus.
‘We’re going through the employees of the jewelry store. As it was a retail establishment, we want the cooperation of the public,’ Cuomo said. Cuomo said the man ‘appears to be on the mend’.
The governor said the Wadsworth laboratory can test for the variant in 40 hours, while the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) takes two weeks.
He said the state has run about 5,000 tests so far for the variant, which he warned could lead to even more infections and hospitalizations amid a holiday season surge.
‘I think it is must more widespread than people known,’ Cuomo said.
The UK currently has more infections and deaths per million people that the US
New York’s hospitalizations are at 8,251 and the state added an additional 170 fatalities.
Data suggests that the variant may have already been present in the US at undetectable levels in recent months, since perhaps as long ago as October.
‘It wouldn’t be at all surprising if at least some of the cases were B117,’ said Eric Topol, head of Scripps Research Translational Institute in La Jolla, California.
Topol’s team on Wednesday confirmed that at least one coronavirus infection in California was caused by the mutant strain.
‘It has probably been here for a while at low levels – but you don’t see it until you look for it.’
Florida became the third state in the US to confirm a case of the mutant strain of COVID-19.
The Florida Department of Health confirmed the diagnosis on Thursday night. Officials said the man is in his 20s, lives in Martin County and has no history of travel.
As of Monday afternoon, the US is reporting a total of 351,590 deaths
The United States on Monday recorded 210,479 new COVID-19 cases
UK health authorities have recorded more than 50,000 new infections daily since passing that milestone for the first time on December 29
The strain has caused England to be plunged into another national lockdown until at least February.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Monday a new national lockdown for England to combat the fast-spreading new variant of the coronavirus, even as Britain ramped up its vaccination program by becoming the first nation to start using the shot developed by Oxford University and drugmaker AstraZeneca.
Johnson said people must stay at home again, as they were ordered to do so in the first wave of the pandemic in March, this time because the new virus variant was spreading in a ‘frustrating and alarming’ way.
‘As I speak to you tonight, our hospitals are under more pressure from COVID than at any time since the start of the pandemic,’ he said in a televised address.
From Tuesday, primary and secondary schools and colleges will be closed for face to face learning except for the children of key workers and vulnerable pupils. University students will not be returning until at least mid-February.
People were told to work from home unless it’s impossible to do so, and leave home only for essential trips.
All nonessential shops and personal care services like hairdressers will be closed, and restaurants can only operate takeout services.
As of Monday, there were 26,626 COVID-19 patients in hospitals in England, an increase of more than 30 per cent from a week ago. That is 40 per cent above the highest level of the first wave in the spring.
Large areas of England were already under tight restrictions as officials try to control an alarming surge in coronavirus cases in recent weeks, blamed on a new variant of COVID-19 that is more contagious than existing variants.
Authorities have recorded more than 50,000 new infections daily since passing that milestone for the first time on December 29.
On Monday, they reported 407 virus-related deaths to push the confirmed death toll total to 75,431, one of the worst in Europe.
The UK’s chief medical officers warned that without further action, ‘there is a material risk of the National Health Service in several areas being overwhelmed over the next 21 days’.
South Africa has also discovered a highly contagious COVID-19 variant, which was also detected in the UK prior to Christmas.
So far, no cases of the South African variant have been detected in the US.
Cuomo said the man, who is in his 60s, was diagnosed with the new strain despite having no travel history. More than 20.6 million cases of the virus have been reported in the US
