New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the so-called British variant of the coronavirus is a “game changer” as he criticized federal health officials for not implementing a travel ban or requiring exams for travelers from the UK
“Now there is a second strain and it came from the UK, again,” he said during a news conference on Tuesday. “Secretary Azar, Dr. Redfield, how can you explain to the American people your inaction, your neglect, your irresponsibility – 140 countries have banned people from the UK and you have done nothing.
“You know that there are now viral strains in other countries – you know it’s a fact – why don’t you impose the test, how many times do you have to learn the same lesson over and over, what happened to competent government leadership?”
NEW YORK CONFIRMS VARIANT CORONAVIRUS OF THE UK IN THE SARATOGA MAN
Cuomo’s fiery accusations came a day after he threatened to fine hospitals in New York that were not moving fast enough to distribute the vaccine distribution and after the state announced that it had detected its first case of the UK variant in one Saratoga man in his 60s.
“Anyone who has been exposed or anyone who has been exposed to someone who has been exposed, please contact us,” asked Cuomo. “There is nothing to be ashamed of, this is a virus – he travels – but we have to know. Containment is vitally important here – this is a virus with which we must be extra careful.”
Cuomo said that experts estimate that the new variant could overtake the original strain in a matter of weeks and that the high rate of transmissibility increases the urgency needed to distribute the vaccine.
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“We are in a race now between vaccine implementation versus infection rate and hospitalization capacity,” he said. “The UK variation changes the entire walking race because the UK variation, the transmission rate increases, the infection rate increases and it is no longer the race we were doing.”