Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Sunday called it “reprehensible” and “grossly negligent” to allow British travelers to fly to JFK Airport without being tested, despite an infectious new mutation of the coronavirus that shuts down London.
“Right now, this variant is boarding a plane in the UK and flying to JFK,” Cuomo said in a call to reporters Sunday of the mutation that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has warned could be 70 percent more transferable.
Today, the governor stressed, calling on the FBI to impose coronavirus testing on British travelers to a “minimum,” if not outright ban.
“Literally six flights a day. And it only takes one person, ”he said of the potential seed for the new species to spread.
So far, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Ireland and Bulgaria have all announced bans or strict restrictions on British travelers since Johnson announced London’s closure on Saturday.
At least 120 countries are also ensuring that travelers from the UK get a negative test for the coronavirus before they let them in, said Cuomo – saying Johnson’s sudden shutdown so close to Christmas was a clear sign of how “seemingly dangerous” the new mutation is. proven. .
“We have about six flights a day from the UK. And we haven’t done anything at all, ”he said.
“This is reprehensible to me because this is what happens in the spring,” he said, blaming the wild early spread of the infection in New York to travelers from Europe, rather than directly from the original epicenter. in Wuhan, China.
Some “120 countries need to be tested, we don’t. Other European countries have issued bans, we have not. And today that variant gets on a plane and lands at JFK, ”repeated Cuomo.
“The Port Authority has no authority to ban passengers, health monitor passengers. It’s federal, ”he said.
“Doing nothing is negligent. It’s gross negligence, ”he fumed.
“How many times in life do you have to make the same mistake before you learn?”
Cuomo stressed that so far “we don’t have any evidence” that the new strain has reached the US – saying it was a fear that kept me awake last night.
He also feared there was only a “working assumption” that the coronavirus vaccines would be effective against the new strain, saying, “the experts have been so wrong … I’ll take it all with a pinch of salt, to tell you. tell the truth. “
British leader Johnson said Saturday that the rapidly changing new variant of the virus is 70 percent more transmissible and is responsible for more than 60 percent of new infections in London and surrounding areas.
The The World Health Organization tweeted Late Saturday it was “in close contact with UK officials about the new # COVID19 virus variant” and pledged to keep governments and the public informed as more is learned.
According to data from Johns Hopkins University, more than 67,500 deaths have occurred in the pandemic in Britain – the second highest confirmed toll in Europe after Italy – with more than 2 million confirmed cases.
With pole wires