New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio called for a full travel ban from the United Kingdom to the United States, as the ‘mutant‘ strain of COVID-19, which is now causing cases to rise in Britain, has now been detected in New York.
On Tuesday, De Blasio made a plea during his daily press conference from City Hall following an announcement made by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo Monday, who announced that the super-infectious UK variant of the coronavirus has already been found upstate.
Cuomo said that the man at a Saratoga Springs jewelry store had Covid-19 symptoms but is ‘on the mend.’ Three other people linked to the jewelry store have been tested positive for Covid-19, but he says it’s unknown if they have the variant.
De Blasio urges the White House to ‘shut down the danger now’ and ban all travel to and from the UK.
“We all should be worried about this,” de Blasio said of the new strain, clarifying that it isn’t more deadly but is more infections than the original strand. He said, “We need the federal government to step up here and ball all travel from the US to the UK.” He added, “It’s time to stop the half measures.” He explained, “Right now, you can still get on a plane in London and not even have proof you have a negative test, then come to New York City and merrily spread the disease. Why is that going on? Why?”
De Blasio called for the federal government to implement the policy “right now,” referring to the lack of ban as “madness.” The Mayor believes that a total ban could buy the state time to “get vaccinations done” and properly protect residents.
He said, “but if we don’t have a total ban, then we are literally inviting this horrible variant in the door even more – and that makes no sense.” He added, ‘The inconvenience [the ban] poses to travelers pales in comparison to the danger this variant poses to all of us.”
The Empire State has been the fourth in the nation to discover a ‘mutant’ version of the virus that started ravaging through the United Kingdom towards the end of last year, causing cases to explode and prompting Prime Minister Boris Johnson to declare a third national lockdown on Monday.
Like the first U.S. case of the variant found in Colorado, the Saratoga Springs man had no recent history of travel, indicating a population spread.
The CDC claims that the strain first appeared in September in Britain and said last week that it believed it had been circulating in the United States for some time.
The strain is thought to be up to 50% more transmissible but not more lethal.
The United Kingdom is also reportedly dealing with a second mutated form of the virus, said to have originated in South Africa, which experts say could be immune to vaccines and potentially more lethal.
The strain has not yet been identified in the US, and de Blasio did not reference it during his Monday conference.
Officials state that they expect more changes in the virus to occur over time.
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