New York City has confirmed its first two cases of the most infectious new British variant of the new coronavirus, Mayor Bill de Blasio revealed, posing a threat to the city’s hospital system, which is already increasingly overloaded. .
The two cases were diagnosed in late December and only confirmed by genetic testing on Wednesday that the variant was the cause, said Dr. Dave Chokshi, the city’s health commissioner, increasing the likelihood that the variant is already spreading widely throughout the city.
Even before New York City reported its first case of the novel coronavirus in March 2020, there were already thousands of COVID-19 cases in the city, according to models published early in the pandemic by health researchers.
Spokespersons for the city and state Health departments did not immediately respond to questions about why the test results confirming the city’s two COVID-19 variant cases took more than two weeks.
One person who had the British variant of the virus is a Manhattan resident, and the other lives in Queens, Chokshi said. He added that the city’s testing and tracking team had already contacted the two people’s contacts.
There are currently 12 confirmed cases of the variant statewide, including the two in the city.
De Blasio said he was “very concerned” about the spread of the variant in the city, and urged the federal government to adopt a travel ban from the UK.
“Anyone who is older, anyone who has pre-existing conditions, should really limit their movements, they should only do the most essential things,” said the mayor. “If you are one of the vulnerable people, don’t risk it.”
The variant, which is spreading around the world, has already been found in ten other states.
Studies have shown that the variant is more infectious than the other COVID-19 strains circulating in the US, although it does not cause a more severe case or increase the likelihood of death.
However, the variant has caused an increase in coronavirus cases in the UK, overwhelming hospitals.
A state dashboard shows that 77% of New York City hospital beds are occupied, a number that has been increasing since the beginning of the year. Only a quarter of the city’s ICU beds are available.
The city saw 279 hospital admissions on January 11, De Blasio said Wednesday, the highest number in a week.
Across the state, hospital admission rates have risen steadily for two weeks, now by 4.62 per 100,000 people. The percentage of New York City residents who have tested positive for coronavirus has decreased slightly since the New Year, to 8.39% on January 11.
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