Cuomo: New York’s first South African COVID-19 case, Nassau resident

The South African variant of COVID-19 was found in a resident of Nassau County, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo said on Sunday, in the first confirmed case of the variant contracted by a person living in New York City.

Sequencing performed on a sample of the individual performed at a New York City lab and confirmed at the state’s Wadsworth Center lab showed it contained the South African variant, Cuomo said in a statement from hurry.

The individual lives in Glen Head, said Jordan Carmon, spokesperson for Nassau County Director Laura Curran.

Scientists and health officials believe the South African and UK variants of COVID-19 appear to be spreading faster than the current dominant strain, but more research is needed to determine if they are more deadly or less responsive to vaccines current.

There have been more than 28 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States since the pandemic began a year ago, according to the Coronavirus Resource Center at Johns Hopkins University of Medicine.

The nation was on the verge of reaching the grim milestone of 500,000 dead on Sunday afternoon. But the announcement of the first case of the South African strain in the state came as the rate of positive COVID-19 cases in New York City fell below 3% for the first time since November 23.

The South African variant was first identified in the United States late last month in South Carolina. A Connecticut resident hospitalized in New York City also received the variant last week, Cuomo said.

As of Saturday, 136 cases of the UK variant of COVID-19 had been detected in the state, including 10 in Nassau County and 12 in Suffolk County.

The Glen Head resident who tested positive for the South African variant is likely not the only Long Islander with the strain, experts have said.

“We don’t really have a great deal of clarity at the moment how many cases of these variants exist in our region,” said Dr. David Hirschwerk, an infectious disease expert and acting president of medicine at the Zucker School. of Medicine at Hofstra / Northwell in Hempstead. “From now on, a tiny proportion of positive tests are subjected to genetic sequencing. These types of tests will increase steadily.”

Complex genomic sequencing tests help researchers track COVID-19 variants. Last week, the Associated Press reported that White House officials said there were not enough labs in countries processing samples for COVID-19 genomic sequencing and pledged nearly 200 million dollars to expand it to around 25,000 samples per week. This is about three times the current level.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, British scientists have said that this variant “may be associated with an increased risk of death compared to other variants,” but that more studies are needed to confirm this finding.

The CDC said the British and South African variants appear to spread easier and faster than the other variants. They still don’t know how widespread they have spread and how they might impact COVID-19 vaccines, tests and therapies.

“(The South African strain) is probably a strain that spreads more easily, but exactly how much more and if it is more virulent – this information is really on hold,” Hirschwerk said.

Even though there is uncertainty about the effectiveness of the available COVID-19 vaccines against the variants, Hirschwerk urged people to get vaccinated when they are eligible. The vaccinations would minimize the risk of contracting a severe form of the disease, even when infected with a variant, he said.

“There is still a huge advantage in getting the vaccines, not only because [South African] is probably still a small part of the strains that we see, but the vaccine has a strong advantage against the British strain as well as against the standard strain, ”he said.

The state recorded 6,610 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, including 546 in Nassau County and 513 in Suffolk County. Based on 221,157 test results, the daily positivity rate was 2.99%. It remained higher on Long Island at 4.2%, according to statistics released by the state.

The new figures show a continuing decline in the number of new cases after peaking after the holiday season. On January 5, the state’s daily positivity rate was 8.4%

“We continue to see a reduction in positivity and hospitalizations statewide, which is good news, and these advances allow us to reopen the valve to our economy even further,” Cuomo said in a statement. “But with the discovery of a case of the South African variant in the state, it is more important than ever for New Yorkers to remain vigilant, wear masks, wash their hands and stay socially removed. We are in a race right now – between our ability to vaccinate and those variants that are actively trying to proliferate – and we will only win this race if we stay smart and disciplined. “

The state recorded 75 more deaths from COVID-19 on Saturday, including four in Nassau County and nine in Suffolk County.

In a statement, Curran said: “We don’t think the South African variant is more deadly, but it may be more contagious. The best response is to continue the proven precautions: wear masks, avoid social gatherings, take distance, stay home and get tested if sick. ”

Suffolk officials could not be reached for comment on the presence of the South African variant in Nassau.

Efforts to vaccinate more than 10 million eligible New Yorkers against COVID-19 have been affected as winter storms delayed federal shipments, according to the state. More than 2.2 million people in the state have received their first dose of the vaccine and more than 1.1 million have received a second dose, according to state statistics.

A total of 416,577 first and second doses have been administered on Long Island to date.

With Jesse Coburn

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