The South African variant of the coronavirus has now been identified in New York, health officials said on Tuesday – while giving an update on the various mutations now spreading through the Great Sea.
“As the number of New Yorkers vaccinated increases every day, there are real reasons to hope for better months. But on the periphery of this growing light, there is also a shadow of these new variants of COVID-19 in the city, ”said Dr. Dave Chokshi, commissioner of the city’s Health Department, in a press briefing.
Two cases of the South African variant, called B.1.351, were found among Big Apple residents, according to the health commissioner.
Since last week, the number of confirmed city cases of the highly contagious variant in the UK. known as B.1.1.7, increased from 59 to 116, Chokshi said.
“The city will continue testing thousands of samples to find out more, and disease detectives at the Department of Health are investigating the implications of these variants on public health,” Chokshi said.
Meanwhile, the house strain that appeared in New York, known as B.1.526, is currently classified as “a variant of interest,” said Dr. Jay Varma, senior public health adviser to Mayor Bill de Blasio. , during the meeting.
“We expect to have preliminary answers [about the New York City variant] until next week, “said Varma.
Varma added: “And if we find out something alarming, we will tell you. If we think that the variant will probably not be a big problem, we will tell you that too. And if we’re not sure yet, we’ll tell you. ”
“We will continue to do what we have done, which is to get the best data possible and use it to fight this epidemic together,” he said.
The New York variant was first found in Washington Heights, Manhattan – but officials say it’s unclear where it came from.
Varma considered the British strain, the South African variant and the Brazilian variant, known as P.1, “variants of concern”.
“What makes it a form of concern? It could change so much that it evades our usual tests. Our regular tests can’t diagnose it or they’ve changed so much that they avoid our antibodies. Or it has changed so much that it leads to more severe diseases and death, “said Varma.
Chokshi noted that health officials “are still learning about the effectiveness of vaccines on these variants, but research so far is consistent with FDA-approved COVID-19 vaccines.” [Food and Drug Administration] will help reduce the risk of severe infections and death. ”