The highly contagious strain Covid-19 recently discovered in the UK has reached New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo said Monday.
State health officials said they discovered a case of the tension in a Saratoga County state man. The new variant, known to spread 70% faster than previous versions of the virus, was first discovered in the US in a man in Colorado, health officials said last week.
The New York man is associated with N. Fox Jewelers in Saratoga Springs, a company where other people tested positive for the virus, New York state officials said. Officials urged anyone who has visited the store since December 18 to get tested.
The identification of the new species in New York came as Covid-19 hospital admissions and positivity rates around the state continue to rise, mostly in areas north of the Hudson Valley.
Another 170 New Yorkers died Sunday as a result of Covid-19, and 8,251 people in the state were hospitalized, the Democratic governor said. That is the highest number of hospital admissions since May 7, according to state data. Calculated on a seven-day average, 71% of the state’s available hospital beds are occupied.